Napoli’s sporting director Giovanni Manna insisted the Italian club won’t overpay for Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho in the final days of the January transfer window.
Garnacho’s future at Old Trafford has become the biggest talking point of this month’s transfer window, with United open to offers for their academy graduate as they look to boost their dire financial situation.
Napoli emerged as one of the early favourites for the Argentine’s signature, but saw an initial bid rejected as United initially held out for a £70 million transfer fee for the 20-year-old.
The Red Devils have now reportedly lowered their asking price to around €65m (£54.8m), but still no agreement has been reached.
Chelsea have now emerged as the favourites for Garnacho’s signature, with the winger said to prefer staying in the Premier League if he has to leave United this month.
Napoli have not given up hope of signing Garnacho as they look to find a replacement for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia following his move to Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month.
But speaking before Napoli’s 2-1 win over Juventus on Saturday, Manna insisted that the Italian club would not bullied at the negotiation table as they also consider a move for Borussia Dortmund forward Karim Adeyemi.
‘Karim Adeyemi and Alejandro Garnacho are two names that are of interest to us, they are players we like, but they are not the only ones,’ the club exec told DAZN.
‘We are trying to evaluate a few things and looking at the opportunities, but we certainly will not pay prices that are outside the market value.”
‘We made this sale that unfortunately was necessary for what the player wanted and our dynamics. We will respect our parameters, not just for the transfer fee, but also the salary.
‘We are evaluating a few situations, it would not be right to give our fans false hope, but we will certainly do what is best to improve the squad.’
Chelsea, meanwhile, have been far more discrete about their interest in Garnacho as they look to bolster their options in wide attacking areas.
’Im happy with what we have in this moment. On the right side it is Pedro Neto and Noni Madueke, on the left we have Jadon Sancho,’ Maresca said prior to his side’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.
‘We had Misha [Mykhailo Mudryk] but he is not with us. Tyrique George is a young profile that can help us.’
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