According to a report by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis needs to recover €150 million (£134.8 million) after investing significantly in transfer spending over the past season – which could potentially gift Man City a chance to land reported targets Kalidou Koulibaly and Fabian Ruiz for cut prices.
Links to Koulibaly have been well covered by the media in recent weeks, but any news on midfielder Ruiz has been scarce – with the most high profile recent update coming courtesy of Mundo Deportivo via TEAMtalk.
The Spanish outlet claimed back in April that Napoli were willing to lower their asking price for Ruiz down to £52 million, and now La Gazzetta may have supported this claim through De Laurentiis’ stance on needing to sell for funds.
City have reportedly had their eye on Ruiz for nearly a year, with a November 2019 exclusive from Calcio Napoli 24 revealing that manager Pep Guardiola is ‘in love’ with the player’s abilities.
The Ruiz saga, why City should pursue him…
Napoli’s alleged desperation to offload for money could play into City’s hands, and Ruiz’ stats from this season alone arguably highlight he would be the perfect Ilkay Gundogan upgrade in midfield.
Despite averaging a slightly worse pass accuracy than the German, Ruiz has totalled double the amount of shots per game on average going forward whilst making more key passes per 90 (WhoScored).
The 24-year-old also completes a higher number of dribbles – proving that there is little Gundogan can do better than the Serie A star.
What the pundits say…
Speaking to Goal, Barcelona boss Quique Setien certainly heaped praise on Ruiz’ capabilities – calling his growth spectacular.
“I have a lot of affection for Fabian, he has had spectacular growth, I’m very happy for him, I hope that tomorrow he will not show all his virtues so we can stop him,” Setien explained before Barca took on Napoli in the Champions League.
“I am happy with his goals, he is tremendously humble and a beautiful person.”
The final verdict…
While rumours may have died down concerning Ruiz for the time being, it’s arguably imperative that City at least consider reigniting their interest.