Napoli Miss Out on Luiz Felipe, Close to Verona Talent | OneFootball

Napoli are waiting for Danilo to terminate his contract with Juventus and aren’t pushing any other veteran defenders for now. Juan Jesus had a rough start while filling in for Alessandro Buongiorno, but his ensuing performances have been okay. The former Torino star will return from a back fracture by the end of January. The Old Lady asked for €2.5M, Il Mattino reports (via Tuttomercatoweb).

As a result, the Partenopei have elected not to tender an offer to Luiz Felipe, who won’t return to Serie A. He’ll sign with Olympique Marseille in the coming days, Marca informs (via Goal). He had been linked to Juventus as well. The Italian sides had reservations about his fitness. He hasn’t played in four and a half months.

The ex-Lazio defender had been attached to a reunion with Real Betis, but he couldn’t technically do it. Al-Ittihad had acquired him for €22M from the Spanish side in 2022, inserting a clause preventing him from going back until 2026. He’ll reportedly agree to an 18-month contract with the Roberto De Zerbi-led team. He’ll be completely free to choose his next destination at the end of it.

In the meantime, Napoli are closing in on a youngster for the future at the position, Nicolò Schira informs. They are in advanced talks with Hellas Verona to purchase Daniele Ghilardi for €5M. He’ll stay on loan to Gialloblù at first.

The 22-year-old has been a minor revelation this campaign. Paolo Zanetti decided to keep him in the squad after his sound loan spells at Mantova and Sampdoria. He has appeared ten times already, getting minutes over more established players.