Napoli Consider Swooping For Former Aston Villa Attacker Amid Lorenzo Lucca’s Likely Exit | OneFootball

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Former Aston Villa forward Keinan Davis is on Napoli’s target list for the summer, amid the expected sale of Nottingham Forest loan star Lorenzo Lucca.

Napoli have found defending their Serie A title this season to be a difficult matter and are set to surrender it to Inter Milan.

Antonio Conte’s side have already begun preparations for the summer transfer window and next season, beginning with their forward line.

Rasmus Hojlund, signed in the summer on loan from Manchester United, looks nailed on to stay permanently with Napoli having an obligation to buy if they qualify for the Champions League.

Romelu Lukaku has been removed from the squad for the rest of the season after ignoring a request to attend training and is being linked with a sale to Saudi Arabia or the MLS.

Lorenzo Lucca, on loan at Nottingham Forest, and completely left out of the squad of late, which drew criticism from Italy, is unlikely to be signed by the Tricky Trees on a permanent basis, despite being available for a lower fee.

The Italian giants are keen to move Lucca on in the summer and it has been suggested it is ‘almost impossible’ that he will stay.

Napoli have thus drawn up a five-man shortlist to provide competition and challenge Hojlund for a starting spot next season.

According to Italian daily La Repubblica (via CalcioNapoli24), former Aston Villa forward Davis is among the five being considered.

Brighton’s Evan Ferguson, Andrea Pinamonti, Sebastiano Esposito and Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee are the other names on the list.

Davis came through the Villans academy to make his debut in the Championship, before going on to make appearances in the Premier League.

He also spent a year each with the Tricky Trees and Watford in the Championship on loan, before becoming the subject of interest from multiple second tier clubs in 2023.

Udinese ultimately prevailed over the competition for his signature, signing him as a replacement for the Everton-bound Beto.

Davis is having a breakthrough campaign, the most prolific season of his career so far, notching up ten goals in the Serie A and double digits for the first time.

Aston Villa will no doubt continue to keep a close eye on his progress and see if he can live up to the potential they believed he had when he was on the books at Villa Park.

Intriguingly, with Napoli set to qualify for the Champions League and Aston Villa also likely to be there, a move this summer could see Davis come up against Unai Emery’s men next season.