Lazio and Napoli owners Claudio Lotito and Aurelio De Laurentiis had dinner in Naples yesterday. On top of discussing football politics, as the two are allies and were the masterminds of the recent election of Lorenzo Casini, they conversed about potential transfer market moves, Tuttomercatoweb informs.
The Biancocelesti are keen on Dries Mertens, whom they wish to onboard to back up Ciro Immobile. Their chairman gathered intel about whether the Belgian striker will leave at the end of his expiring contract. The Partenopei will not activate their €4.5M clause to keep him. However, they will tender a low offer, €1.2M, and the veteran might take it, Corriere dello Sport informs.
If such solution was not viable, Lazio could target Andrea Petagna for the role. Lotito and De Laurentiis debated a possible swap as Napoli are searching for a new inventive midfielder. Piotr Zielinski has declined in the last few months. Plus, Fabian Ruiz might depart in the summer as his contract runs out in 2023.
The Azzurri have expressed interest in Luis Alberto, but not at the price tag requested by the counterpart. Considering his age, they would be willing to spend around €20M. A trade with Petagna as a partial makeweight could address both teams’ needs, although the talks were preliminary. The Spanish ace suggested that he would like to return to his home country if he were to flee. Despite an up-and-down campaign, he would have plenty of suitors if Lazio decided to cash in on him and keep Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.