If you thought that Napoli were going to go away after Wolverhampton Wanderers refused the first offer of €35m for Max Kilman, think again.
That’s what Corriere dello Sport point out on Wednesday in an article about the Serie A side’s pursuit of the centre-back, whom they see as the ideal heir to Kim Min-jae.
The Wolves star has become ‘the priority’ for the Serie A champions, and while they know that the €40m asked by the Premier League side are ‘a lot’, they also feel there is a small room for negotiation.
Napoli are ‘willing to take a small step forward’ with their offer, and they hope the Molineux side may ‘also reflect on the opportunity and take two steps back’.
Kilman isn’t even a managerial request in Naples, as Corriere state he arrived on the desk of Aurelio De Laurentiis as a target ‘supported by the candidacy of the entire scouting area’.
While they do have Robin Le Normand as a back up, he doesn’t quite fit the bill as well as the Wolves defender, which is why the Italians ‘do not give up’ and will ‘insist to the bitter end’ to get a deal done.
So much so, they would want to close it ‘immediately’.
Furthermore, on Tuesday, Giovanni Scotto, a journalist for Il Roma relayed by Area Napoli, explained the type of player that Napoli are looking for, naming seven potential defenders who fit that bill, and named Kilman, adding ‘Wolverhampton want to keep him’.
This, we all know, but it’s clear that with a €40m asking price, and with Napoli having a bit of money in their bank account, a deal seems possible, especially since, as TuttoMercatoWeb explain, there is only €5m between the first offer of €35m and Wolves’ request.