Napoli plan to overhaul the roster and significantly decrease the payroll while staying competitive this summer. The strategy will be influenced by whether or not they will qualify to Champions League. In any case, Kalidou Koulibaly and Fabian Ruiz are the two players most likely to leave given their value and wages, Gazzetta dello Sport reports.
The Partenopei have received a sizeable offer from Liverpool for the center-back, around €40/50M, Calciomercato.com reports. It is considerably down compared to his price tag in previous windows, but he desires to transfer. Manchester City, Everton and PSG are also reportedly interested in the defender, while Ruiz is being pursued by Atletico Madrid. The club wants to cash in €100/110M from the sales of the two linchpins and will try to drum up a bidding war.
Tiemoué Bakayoko is unlikely to be retained from Chelsea considering that his acquisition was suggested by coach Gennaro Gattuso. Napoli intend to go after some up-and-comer talents once completing the departures. Feyenoord’s Marcos Senesi is the top target for the defense, while Antonin Barak and Matteo Zaccagni have been short-listed for the midfield. The investments to sign them and their salaries would be relatively low.
The pursuit of two Verona centerpieces makes Ivan Juric a natural candidate for the bench. Despite the recent turnaround, the frictions between president Aurelio De Laurentiis and Gattuso are too significant to be mended. The chairman is working on multiple fronts to replace him based on where the team finishes in the standing.