Napoli identity Kobbie Mainoo alternative

Napoli are on a mission as the current Serie A champions look to retain their title following their victory at the end of last season.

The Naples outfit, who currently sit top of Serie A with 31 points and ten wins, have the third highest goal difference in the league with +10.

Meanwhile, Antonio Conte’s side have lost just three times, putting them joint-second with Juventus and Bologna in that statistic.

Furthermore, the side’s top scorer (Andre-Frank Anguissa) has scored four times in Serie A this season and the team’s top assister David Neres has assisted twice in the league.

However, with the January transfer window coming up, the side may choose to recruit to give themselves a better chance of winning Serie A come the end of the season.

One area that Napoli could look to recruit in is midfield, with Kobbie Mainoo one of the names linked to the side in this position.

Mainoo, who has fallen out of favour at Manchester United, has been targeted by twelve clubs from a number of leagues recently.

Furthermore, Napoli had shortlisted a back-up option to the United academy graduate recently.

However, now, the side have identified two alternatives to Kobbie Mainoo who could be pursued in January.

According to Tutto Mercato Web, Kobbie Mainoo remains the priority with a loan-to-buy option.

But, West Ham United’s Soungoutou Magassa is seen as a cheaper option.

Magassa has appeared nine times for West Ham this season, starting four of these and scoring once.

Meanwhile, the midfielder has also made two dribbles and has a pass accuracy of 80.3% across the season.

With this alternative identified, attention could turn to see if Soungoutou Magassa is pursued instead of Kobbie Mainoo by Napoli in the upcoming January transfer window.