Fabian Ruiz is primed for a pivotal summer as a strong Euro could open him the doors to Real Madrid or Barcelona. His contract with Napoli expires in 2023 with a low €1.5M salary, and the extension talks have gone nowhere thus far. President Aurelio De Laurentiis is open to cashing in on him under the right circumstances, Calciomercato.com reports.
The Partenopei are set to cut some costs and reshape their midfield because they did not qualify to the Champions League and hired Luciano Spalletti. Tiemoué Bakayoko was a pet player of Gennaro Gattuso and will not be retained after the loan spell from Chelsea.
Ruiz is coming off an up-and-down season, but he played well under coach Carlo Ancelotti, who recently returned to Madrid. The Merengues are looking for reinforcements in that area as they are rather thin and their linchpins are aging, Radio Kiss Kiss reports. Barcelona are interested given the collapse of the Georginio Wijnaldum deal and Miralem Pjanic possibly leaving. They are considering adding an experienced box-to-box to allow their youngsters to develop with less pressure, Radio Catalunya indicates.
The Spanish international was signed from Real Betis for €30M in 2018. Napoli would look to get at least €50M if they decided to sell him. They are holding out hope he will shine in the Euro, where he will be in contention for minutes with Koke, Saul, Pedri, and Marcos Llorente. Unless Ruiz agrees to prolong his contract, he will likely be put on the market. Napoli are pursuing Bordeaux’s Toma Basic to bolster their midfield.