Faouzi Ghoulam is back in Naples from Africa Cup of Nations duty with Algeria, which also means that his contract stand-off with Napoli has resumed as well. The former Saint-Etienne defender (often playing alongside Kurt Zouma), has been with the Partenopei for the last three years and has basically been their first-choice left back during that entire time. But his contract is expiring in less than 18 months and talks have not been going too well.
Last month, Ghoulam supposedly rejected an offer that would’ve doubled his earnings (though still to “only” £30,000 per week), and according to Corriere dello Sport, who tend to be pretty good with Napoli rumors, an agreement remains far off.
#Chelsea on red-alert as #Ghoulam contract talks with #Napoli are put on holdhttps://t.co/1vrD9eF0oE pic.twitter.com/uzsLTaNtqs
— Calciomercatocom(En) (@CmdotCom_En) February 7, 2017
So, putting two and two together, as the rumor mill is wont to do, this is a big “boost” for Chelsea ... and PSG and Bayern and Atlético and whoever else may be interested. With so many teams name-dropped casually, it’s just as likely that Ghoulam’s (agent is) simply fishing for a better contract offer than there being any real interest from Conte and the Blues.
But full back reinforcements are supposedly on the agenda for the summer and we could certainly do worse than Ghoulam. Bidding would likely start around £25m and last for roughly two eons because Aurelio De Laurentiis doesn’t do easy.