Gazzetta – Napoli step up chase for Juanlu: new €17m bid in the works | OneFootball

Gazzetta – Market Napoli, acceleration for Juanlu: new offer of 17 million

Calm and plaster, to take the grip where they wanted. After all, the situation of Sevilla has not changed in the last few weeks, just like Napoli's willingness to strike for Juanlu Sanchez, a Spanish full-back more of a push than a cover, but with the right age – and the will – to study under the orders of Professor Conte, to grow and complete himself. Manna waited for the end of the first retreat to take stock with coach Antonio Conte. There was a need to understand, for example, if Alessandro Zanoli, who has the pedigree of the blue youth sector – and therefore would not make the list – could stay in the group of Italian champions to lend a hand. And also to see if Pasquale Mazzocchi, a son of Napoli, could be the only alternative to captain Di Lorenzo on the right: but the market is lurking, Pasquale has offers and today the confirmation cannot be a certainty. And so Juanlu Sanchez is back, who meanwhile started the season with Sevilla, waiting for news.

The Andalusian club even tried to mask the need to make such an important sacrifice: Juanlu was given the number 16 jersey, which in Sevilla means Antonio Puerta, who tragically passed away in the summer of 2007. But the youth player was never taken off the market, on the contrary. And Sevilla always needs to make cash. Napoli's offer is still valid: 17 million including bonuses, not the 20 million requested by the Spaniards, but still a figure not to be underestimated, especially for a 2003 player who has chosen to live this new experience for some time. And now the times really seem ripe. Napoli has temporized a bit also to settle other priorities, such as the goalkeeper – and Milinkovic Savic arrived – and the high exterior. But we are now in August, it's better not to prolong situations that are anyway well underway, which can be closed with a new convinced blitz. And that's what Napoli intends to do in the next few days.

Also because this time Di Lorenzo cannot play all the cards, he will inevitably have to manage himself in view of a full season with many appointments where Napoli wants to stay in the running until the end. A scudetto must be defended, the Champions League must be faced, the Italian Cup and the Super Cup must be honored, and therefore an organic must be reworked to have two Napoli teams: for nine months, bearing the fatigue of a championship, the captain played almost all of them in the first year of Conte, except one. But time passes, the years begin to become a factor, the commitments consume and it's necessary to start intervening. In Sevilla, Juanlu amazed for the naturalness of his plays, statistically also for the similarity with Di Lorenzo (four goals and as many assists) and for a versatility that characterized him as a low exterior but also high: in a team with various souls, polyvalence becomes a factor and Manna talked a long time with Sevilla, before slowing down.

Now temporizing would not change the substance of things. Juanlu Sanchez has promised himself to Napoli, he wants to start again in a new and different reality, he has taken care to say yes to Manna and then wait: the distances have been reduced. Juanlu is fine for the present and for the future, can play in multiple roles and does not make the list. The cocktail is perfect, it's useless to waste more time.

Carlo Gioia

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.