Napoli Balk at Request for Disgruntled Luis Alberto

Napoli have tested the waters for Luis Alberto, whose Lazio saga had another chapter over the weekend as he was excluded from the game-day squad list due to a lack of effort in practice. The Partenopei were met with a €15M request, Gianluca Di Marzio informs.

The Azzurri are keen but are unlikely to do the deal under those conditions. Even though the player publicly asked out, president Claudio Lotito is holding firm on his demands because he’s under contract until 2027.

Napoli could be in the mix for Luis Alberto if the terms changed. They’ll have to sign at least one technical midfielder in the summer. Piotr Zielinski will join Inter, while Hamed Traoré has gone MIA after a decent start to his loan spell from Bournemouth. His permanence is improbable given a lofty option to buy.

The Spaniard had played well following his statement. He resumed training regularly following the incident. Still, it remains to be seen whether hard-nosed Igor Tudor will call him up in the final two games. If he doesn’t find a new home in Europe, he could move to Dubai or Saudi Arabia, Goal reports.

Our Take on Napoli and Luis Alberto

He’d be a sound replacement for Zielinski, but they won’t spend that much for a 31-year-old with substantial wages. Conversely, the Biancocelesti have no reason to let him go for free. Perhaps a swap could make both clubs happy, but those deals have a lot of moving parts and take time.