Manchester City assistant coach Angelo Gregucci has confirmed the English Premier League champions’ interest in S.S.C. Napoli talisman Edinson Cavani amid recent reports that Azzurri president Aurelio De Laurentiis rejected a €55 million offer for the Uruguay international striker, ESPN Soccernet understands.
Cavani, 25, has been on scintillating form this season, with Premier League trio Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City said to be monitoring his current situation at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples.
“I don’t know if the club will lay siege to Napoli for Cavani, but every club with a player of the highest level will know they’ll be courted by bigger clubs,” Gregucci told Radio CRC. “Mancini decides the transfer targets along with the new directors.
“If you ask the clubs who can afford Cavani, for example Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, then I think they’d want Cavani just as Manchester City want him. However, what the player wants is the predominant factor in negotiations and it seems to me that Cavani is happy at Napoli.”
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis raised a few eyebrows, as usual, when he revealed he would like to see a Balotelli-Cavani partnership at Napoli earlier this week.
However, the more realistic option this January would surely be a Balotelli-Cavani swap, with Super Mario heading back to Italy and Cavani joining the reigning Premier League champions.
With that said, do not expect a club other than Paris Saint-Germain to make a huge investment in Balotelli following his most recent controversial run-in with City boss Roberto Mancini.
Cavani has bagged 25 goals in 23 appearances in all competitions for Napoli this term, while Balotelli has managed to find the back of the net on just three occasions in 20 games for City.
Hoarau joins Dalian Aerbin
Chinese Super League outfit Dalian Aerbin F.C. have completed the signing of former Paris Saint-Germain striker Guillaume Hoarau on a three-year deal, ESPN Soccernet reports.
Hoarau, 28, had been attracting substantial interest from a number of Premier League clubs before deciding to try his luck in China.
According to reports from the French media, Hoarau’s move to the Far East will double his previous salary to a lucrative €4 million per season. Surely he made the right choice.
Regarding his decision, Hoarau said: “Yes, I know: why this choice? And why not? Such is life. Our paths cross, and then diverge. The main thing is carpe diem and the good moments. God knows I’ve had some here.
“I’m going to keep things simple, and address myself to those who are ‘nice’. To the others, I would simply say: ‘Talk about my life when your own is an example to follow’.”
Hoarau scored two goals in nine games, two starts, in all competitions for Paris Saint-Germain in 2012-13.
Dalian Aerbin, who finished fifth in the Chinese Super League table last season, are captained by former FC Barcelona defensive midfielder Seydou Keita and have nine foreign-born players, including Ghana international defender Lee Addy, Nigerian forward Peter Utaka and former Brazil international midfielder Fábio Rochemback.
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