Udinese working to sign Napoli defender Ostigard

Udinese are preparing to sell Nehuen Perez to Napoli and would like to sign Leo Ostigard as a replacement.

The Friulian outfit are on the verge of selling the 23-year-old Argentine centre back to Napoli in a deal worth around €16m plus €2m, letting a key part of Gabriele Cioffi’s defence leave in the middle of the season.

Udinese have looked poor this term, winning just two of their first 21 matches, and need to start putting points on the board fast if they want to avoid a possible relegation battle in the latter stages of the campaign.

As reported by Gianluca Di Marzio, Udinese contacted Napoli on Friday to discuss a deal for Ostigard, wanting to pick up the Norwegian to add some cover to Cioffi’s defence following Perez’s departure.

Genoa are also interested in signing the 24-year-old, but Giorgio Cittadini’s arrival from Atalanta has complicated matters.

Ostigard has featured fairly regularly for Napoli this season, seeing 1102 minutes of action across 19 games. He scored in the 3-2 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League and the 4-0 win over Lecce back in September.