Napoli make opening bid to Chelsea after ‘convincing’ Emerson to join — report

Emerson’s long-awaited and long-rumored move back to the Serie A could actually become reality this summer, with the latest reports out of Italy claiming that Napoli have actually made an opening bid for the 26-year-old third-choice left back.

Of course, the €8-10m bid as reported by Gazzetta dello Sport (via Football Italia) is well short of Chelsea’s supposed (and rather optimistic) demand of €20-25m, but it’s a good starting point for negotiations. While Napoli’s budget is said to be no more than the amount of their bid, perhaps we can add in some future bonuses — not that €8-10m is unreasonable for a player who hardly plays for the team anyway and has just one year left on his contract. An actual transfer, even at a slight discount, would be vastly preferred to some sort of loan arrangement.

Napoli head coach Luciano Spalletti hinted at serious interest in his introductory press earlier in the week, and the report takes that one step further, claiming that Emerson has been convinced to join already. Both Gazzetta and Sky Italia report that Napoli will meet Emerson’s agent next week.

Emerson himself is of course busy with the Euro 2020 final, which he should be starting as the left back, and which kicks off in a just a few hours against England at Wembley. Could that be the last match Emerson plays on English soil for the foreseeable future? It just might be!