Napoli willing to sell Manolo Gabbiadini for €20 million

Rumors linking Manolo Gabbiadini to a Napoli exit are going to be flying fast and furious this summer, after a season in which the talented young striker hardly played and didn't perform well as a result. To that end, there are reports flying around that Napoli are willing to accept a fee in the area of €20 million, with a preference that he end up with Wolfsburg or Inter Milan.

Obviously Napoli and their fans would rather see Gabbiadini wind up in Germany than with a potential rival in Inter, especially since it seems like he'd be more likely to find success with a team like Wolfsburg than he would at Inter. While the reports don't indicate anything along such lines, it does seem likely that Napoli would be more willing to give Wolfsburg friendlier terms in terms of how the deal is structured than they would Inter, with whom they would likely require the vast majority if not all of the fee up front.

West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur in England are two other teams believed to be interested in Gabbiadini, and given the vast wealth of resources available to the better EPL teams, both teams would have an easy time affording such a fee.

It would be unfortunate for Napoli to lose a player as talented as Gabbiadini, but after the season he just suffered through it would be perfectly understandable. Often left to languish on the bench and not even a lock to be the first or even second attacking sub, the campaign did little to help along the development of Gabbiadini's career, and took him from a lock for the Italian national team to being firmly on the bubble.

Reports also indicate that Napoli would replace Gabbiadini with Gianluca Lapadula. There was talk on Wednesday that Napoli and Pescara agreed to terms on a deal for Lapadula for €8 million plus another €2 million in performance bonuses. It's not a move that we would be wild about, though it would be more understandable with Gabbiadini leaving.

Still, with the Champions League beckoning, Napoli will need to do more to reinforce the position if Gabbi does leave -- though at least they'll be making a healthy profit on his transfer fee if they do sell him.