Napoli plan to replace Kostas Manolas with a reliable defender in January. The Greek center-back secured a move to Olympiacos last week, leaving the Partenopei short-handed in the back.
Director Cristiano Giuntoli explained why they allowed the early transfer to DAZN: “Manolas has had to battle a lot of physical problems recently and featured only against Leicester City. He suffered another injury afterward and would have been unavailable for the final two matches of 2021. He met with Olympiacos and reached an agreement, and we did too. Even if it will come into effect in January, we okayed the deal because he would have no longer played with us anyway.”
The executive confirmed: “The transfer market always offers some opportunities. Napoli are missing a right-footed defender, and we will try to seize one.” The Azzurri have quickly been linked to a host of options. The departure of Manolas was not profitable, and therefore their budget is not large. Moreover, they have room for just one over-22 player in their squad list. They previously intended to acquire a left-back too.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, one of the top targets is Everton’s Yerry Mina, but he is pretty expensive. Verona’s revelation Nicolò Casale would be easier to purchase considering their good relationship with Verona. His agent already assists a few players in the Azzurri squad. Becir Omeragic, who is also on Milan’s radar to replace Simon Kjaer, was at San Siro yesterday. Napoli will primarily seek a defender on loan with option to buy, Radio Kiss Kiss informs.