Napoli Sporting Director Giovanni Manna has revealed the Italian team are “ready” to sign Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho but only “on Napoli’s terms” as negotiations continue between the two clubs.
In an interview with Sky Sports Italy, Manna was asked about the departure of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Paris Saint-Germain, with Garnacho reported to be the Serie A leaders’ first-choice target to replace the flying winger.
Kvaratskhelia sealed a shock €70 million move to PSG earlier this week after telling Napoli he wanted to leave Italy with the Ligue 1 champions willing to quadruple his wages.
United had been linked with a move for the Georgian international but there was only one destination once PSG made a move for their long-term replacement for Kylian Mbappe after having made initial enquiries for Kvaratskhelia over the summer.
It then emerged that Napoli manager Antonio Conte had identified Garnacho as the primary option to fill the vacated left-wing spot with the precarious financial situation at Old Trafford having left United officials begrudgingly open to offers for the 20-year-old winger.
Reports suggest Napoli have already had a £40 million offer rejected by the Red Devils with the club holding firm over their valuation of Garnacho, believed to be in excess of £65 million.
And in a candid interview, Manna revealed Napoli were “making assessments” in light of this hard line approach at Old Trafford, stressing the Italian side would only proceed “on our terms.”
This indicates Napoli are unwilling to meet United’s demands over Garnacho, despite the Argentinian starlet having reportedly communicated his desire to swap Manchester for Naples.
“Kvara’s [Kvaratskhelia] farewell? The player’s expectations and our salary level didn’t match. So the choice was almost forced,” the Sporting Director stated. “We are making some evaluations, we must not get carried away by the frenzy. There is expectation, we will be ready but on Napoli’s terms”.
Garnacho, despite his obvious talent and scope for improvement at only 20 years of age, is not a natural fit in Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3 system. He lacks the technical skill to play optimally as a number ten in the front three, while Amorim does not appear to trust his defensive awareness to be deployed as a wingback, as fellow attacker Amad often has.
There is also a dearth of viable candidates for United to sell from their current cohort to generate much-needed funds to help the Portuguese coach buttress his new squad.
Furthermore, as an academy graduate, Garnacho’s potential sale would constitute a financial fair play treasure trove, enabling the Reds to invest significantly from the profits of any transfer. And with investment needed in the wingback positions and a misfiring forward line at a minimum, a war chest will need to be assembled ahead of this summer’s transfer window.
United executives will be acutely aware of the flexibility the sale of a player Amorim could likely survive without; as will their Italian counterparts. And Napoli appear ready to take a tough stance over any potential deal to exploit this financial uncertainty at Old Trafford.
Featured image Burak Kara via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
