Mercato Madness: Napoli may have made Strinic contract offer

We found out last week that not only is Croatia international left back Ivan Strinic going to be available on a free transfer at the end of the month, but that Napoli is interested in signing him. Today brings new news on the Strinic front: Napoli may have already tabled a contract offer.

So says journalist Ciro Venerato on Radio Kiss Kiss, at least:

"A few hours ago [Aurelio] De Laurentiis and [Riccardo] Bigon have made an official offer for Ivan Strinic, a three-year contract. The footballer of Dnipro is out of contract, is a full-back and is 27 years old."

-Source: Tuttonapoli

Venerato has shown a number of times in the past that he has good sources within the club, and Radio Kiss Kiss obviously has close ties with Napoli, so while many reports such as this would be worthy of a "yeah, OK," in a case like this it's worth taking close note of. If Venerato is saying it happened, there's a good chance it actually did.

With Faouzi Ghoulam heading to AFCON with Algeria next month and no adequate backup, getting Strinic in to the side as quickly as possible should be a priority for Napoli. Since it looks like the club is indeed thinking the same thing, that's a great sign.

Napoli are being aggressive leading up to the January window, working hard and fast to fill needs before it even opens. First getting Manolo Gabbiadini all but done, now Strinic; this is a nice start for Napoli. Now go get more done, because the squad still needs help.