Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli refused to confirm or deny whether the club will keep Dries Mertens, while hailing the ‘rapid’ swoop for Axel Tuanzebe from Manchester United.
The Coppa Italia Round of 16 clash with Fiorentina kicks off at 17.00 GMT.
Lorenzo Insigne has already signed for Toronto FC from July 1, when his contract with the Partenopei expires, and there are reports Mertens could follow the captain to MLS.
That is because there is a clause in Mertens’ contract to extend by another year, but Napoli are by no means certain to activate it.
“We will sit down and talk about it at the end of the season. Now we have to think about the present, seeing as we have so many players missing and need to focus,” Giuntoli told Sport Mediaset.
“The team is reacting well to setbacks and there is every reason why we should look to the future with enthusiasm.”
Tuanzebe was picked up on loan from Manchester United and makes his full debut this evening against Fiorentina.
“Now we have a complete squad in every area, as Faouzi Ghoulam is returning to fitness. We’ll keep an eye on the January transfer market, and on our balance sheet, in case there are any opportunities,” continued Giuntoli.
“We did well to be rapid on Tuanzebe after Kostas Manolas left.”
Il ds del #Napoli Giuntoli: “#Mertens? Abbiamo un’opzione, ne parleremo a fine anno del rinnovo. Adesso siamo completi, restiamo vigili per vedere se ci sono occasioni adatte a noi. Siamo stati veloci a prendere subito #Tuanzebe dopo l’addio di #Manolas“https://t.co/pl7V2i9IEg
— Claudio Russo (@claudioruss) January 13, 2022
Mertens needs to go! Couldn’t agree more with ADL.
I mean sure he is Napoli‘s all time leading scorer and sure he is leading the team in scoring this year as well but he has to nerve to say that he wants to stay with Napoli and would be willing to “take almost any amount of money & length of contract”. Totally selfish on the field scoring all these goals and selfish off the field by asking for so much when he has done nothing to deserve it.
Carlton, I appreciate your sense of humor. How about we get rid of ADL instead.