Napoli are inches away from securing their top defensive target Nehuen Perez. The deal is in its homestretch and could be defined as soon as Friday. He’d be their fifth January acquisition and the third permanent one. Hamed Traoré and Leander Dendoncker joined on initial loans.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, the Azzurri are settling the details with Udinese. The fee will be €16M plus €2M add-ons. Atletico Madrid are entitled to 50 percent of it thanks to a re-sale clause. Instead, the center-back will ink a four-year contract with €1.6M annual wages.
Udinese will likely give Napoli the green light to sign Perez before finding a replacement and keep seeking afterward. They have already signed Lautaro Giannetti, who was supposed to substitute for Jaka Bijol, who’s out long-term. They are mulling Watford’s Ryan Porteous.
The Partenopei offered Leo Ostigard to the Friulani as part of the deal. However, he refused because he made a promise to Genoa while the two teams were negotiating for Radu Dragusin. On the other end, the Grifone is on the verge of adding Giorgio Cittadini from Atalanta via Monza, so it’s not certain it’ll hold up its end of the bargain.
Our Take on Napoli and Perez
He’s not the best center-back they have been attached to, but he’s pretty good. The fit has improved dramatically with their switch to a three-man line. The price tag is fair. Despite finalizing multiple signings, they haven’t splurged or overspent for any of them.
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