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Could it be true? Are Napoli really pursuing another central defender? Well, according to Gazzetta, Napoli are hopeful of landing Matija Nastasić. The 21-year-old has been at Manchester City since 2012, but has made just 34 appearances, and it seems City have told him he's free to go.
Of course, that doesn't mean they'll let him go cheaply. Oh no, not City. If Napoli want to bring him in on loan, he's going to cost €3m. Then that contract will include a buyout clause of €12m. As for what his wages are at City, well, no one wants to imagine that.
For the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Athletic Bilbao, Rafa Benítez fielded his presumed first-choice center back pairing of Raúl Albiol and Kalidou Koulibaly. Should those two remain his preferred choice, that means Napoli would be paying a loan fee for a player to sit on the bench.
But would they? Federico Fernández is almost certainly on his way out. That leaves Albiol, Koulibaly, Miguel Britos (technically, yes, he's a center back), Henrique (yes, also able to play centrally) and...yeah.
No one wants to see Britos keep getting starts. Henrique is best taken in small doses. So if Napoli are really going to push for the title, while defending the Coppa Italia and competing in Europe, another central defender is essential.
However, there's also news that both Juventus and Roma are after the Serbian. That, or those are just the two teams English media know about in Serie A.