Liverpool are looking for a dynamic midfielder after losing Georginio Wijnaldum at the end of his contract. Piotr Zielinski made their short-list, alongside Brighton’s Yves Bissouma and Ajax’s Ryan Gravenberch. They have not made an offer to Napoli yet, but they reached out to his agents to inquire, Il Corriere del Mezzogiorno reports.
The local newspaper informs that also Manchester City are keeping tabs on the Polish playmaker. The Liverpool interest is nothing new as they tried to acquire him a couple of years ago. At that time, he had a €65M release clause in his deal. The Reds elected not to activate it.
Zielinski extended his contract last summer and is now under contract with Napoli until 2024. He earns €4M per year. It is unclear what his price tag would be now. Owner Aurelio De Laurentiis recently lamented the economic state of the club, and Italian football in general, after the pandemic.
Napoli might part ways with one of their pillars. However, they have not received bids for Kalidou Koulibaly thus far. The extension talks with Lorenzo Insigne have been put on hold due to the Euro. De Laurentiis said that the call between staying or “moving elsewhere in Europe” is completely up to the captain.
Zielinski joined Napoli from Udinese in 2016 for €16M. After a loan spell at Empoli, he has collected 239 appearances over the last five years, tallying 32 goals and 28 assists. He is coming off his most productive campaign yet as he scored 8 times and set up 11 teammates in Serie A alone in 2020/2021.