Napoli sporting director Giovanni Manna described Alejandro Garnacho as an “important player” but insisted the club would only make a move for the Manchester United winger on its own terms.
Antonio Conte’s side, who lead Serie A by six points after their 3-2 win over Atalanta on Saturday night, are in the market to sign a replacement for Hvicha Kvaratskhelia, who joined Paris Saint-Germain for €70 million. (£58.9m) deal this week.
Garnacho has been identified by Napoli as the first-choice replacement for Kvaratskhelia, however, the Italian side are a far cry from United in their assessment of the Argentine international.
United are understood to be retaining a fee of £70m for Garnacho, meanwhile, Napoli are looking to secure a deal closer to €50m (£42.1m). Reports this week claimed that Napoli’s opening bid had been rejected by United.
Chelsea are also close to signing Jarnacho, who has scored eight goals in 31 matches for United this season.
When asked directly about Napoli’s possible move for Garnacho, Mana said on Saturday evening: “We are making some assessments. He is an important player, but he is not our player.”
We should not exaggerate even if we know that an important player has left, a top player as defined by the coach, and therefore expectations are high. But we will do something according to Napoli’s terms.”
Speaking about Napoli’s decision to sell Kvaratskhelia, Mana said: “The team is reacting well. Indeed, last week the player did not want to come to the match and excluded himself.” The coach is able to unite the group and they were already aware of the situation.
“You have to ask him what he has to tell us. I can tell the player has asked to be sold.
We were working on the renovation, which wasn’t easy, but it was going well. Obviously his salary requirements were not at our level and did not match.
He added: “The choice was forced. We wish him the best. It has become a thing of the past even if he wrote wonderful pages for Napoli.”
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