Napoli About to Finalize Double Deal with Torino | OneFootball

Napoli have captured Vanja Milinkovic-Savic from Torino, while Cyril Ngonge will go the other way around. The Partenopei were eager to sign another quality goalie to deputize and potentially challenge Alex Meret.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio, the Azzurri won’t activate the Serb’s €19M release clause. Instead, they’ll shell out €22.5M in exchange for a more diluted payment structure. After multiple loan spells, he’s been the starter for the last four campaigns and was particularly brilliant in the past two. He has appeared 158 times with the Granata, allowing 163 goals and keeping 52 clean sheets.

Milinkovic-Savic was one of the early names on the Napoli radar for the position. They haven’t been really close to other goalies this summer. Instead, Ngonge is transferring on an initial loan with a €1M fee and a €18M option to buy. The Scudetto winners signed him from Verona for €20M two years ago, but he never hit his stride in Campania, where he was buried on the depth chart. He’s reuniting with coach Marco Baroni.

Torino have already identified their next starter between the sticks: Franco Israel from Sporting CP. They’ll onboard him for €4/5M. He’s a Juventus youth product and starred numerous times in their Next Gen squad before moving to Portugal. The Bianconeri will get half of the fee thanks to a resale clause.

Our Take on Napoli Adding Milinkovic-Savic

They were determined to bring in another reliable option, and the biggest hurdle was convincing him, but he’s overqualified to be a backup, and it’s debatable whether he’s at the level to rival Meret, plus he has already hit his ceiling. Still, if Ngonge fares well, it’ll turn out to be a delayed swap for a player they weren’t using.