Napoli are moving closer to reaching an agreement with Borussia Moenchengladbach for the transfer of Japanese centre-back Ko Itakura according to reports from Sky Sport Germany.
Sky, who have been broadcasting the update on Sunday afternoon, suggest that the two clubs value Itakura slightly differently, but there is now only a few million difference between the two sums.
According to Sky, Gladbach believe the 26-year-old is worth around €15m, while Napoli are hopeful of getting a deal done for a fee closer to €12m.
The signing of Itakura would soften the blow from losing Kim Min-jae, who is expected to officially join Bayern Munich for €50m at any moment in the coming days.
After the success Kim experienced in Naples, the Partenopei have been interested in bringing more Asian players over to the Stadio Maradona, with names such as Takefusa Kubo and Daichi Kamada also having been suggested in recent weeks.
Itakura has gathered plenty of experience in the Bundesliga over the last two seasons, as well as with the Japan national team, for whom he has played 20 times.
His signing would also be considerably cheaper than some of the other names suggested for the vacant centre-back slot, such as Wolves’ Max Kilman and Real Sociedad’s Robin Le Normand.