Napoli furthered the contacts for Konstantinos Mavropanos since their offers for Max Kilman and Kevin Danso were rejected. The Stuttgart defender would likely be less expensive. The Partenopei haven’t zeroed in on him just yet, but they followed up on their initial inquiry, Alfredo Pedullà reports.
The 25-year-old moved to Germany on loan in 2020 and was then redeemed for €3.2M last summer. He previously starred for Arsenal, Nurnberg, and PAS Giannina. He didn’t break through in the Premier League at a young age but bounced back at this current club. The center-back has racked up 89 appearances in the past three campaigns, scoring 8 times.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Napoli plan to table a €15M bid for Mavropanos hoping it will be enough. Despite getting €50M from the sale of Kim Min-Jae, they are unlike to splurge for a new defender.
President Aurelio De Laurentiis would like to replicate the same type of deal they pulled off for the South Korean. He joined from Fenerbahce by activating a €18M release clause.
Our Take on Napoli and Mavropanos
He’d fit physically and is rather established, but he doesn’t have the same upside as some of their other rumored targets. A flash deal for a name that hasn’t emerged yet, perhaps from a slightly unusual place, is always possible for the Azzurri.
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