Napoli boss Rafa Benitez has reportedly set his sights on one of Daniel Agger or Thomas Vermaelen to strengthen his defence.
Napoli’s priority in the summer is to tighten up their back line and Daniel Agger and Thomas Vermaelen seem to be the main transfer targets.
It has been a successful season for Napoli who won the Coppa Italia and will finish third in Serie A having fallen short of Juventus’ blistering Scudetto pace.
But next season Rafa Benitez will be looking to do better in Europe and is hoping for reinforcements to improve Napoli’s chances of Champions League success.
Napoli were quite unlucky in this year’s Champions League, securing 12 points from a tough group that included Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund but still being eliminated.
The Azzurri then knocked Swansea out of the Europa League before falling to Portuguese side Porto 3-2 on aggregate.
The main problem for Benitez this season has been defensive fragility, which has undermined their attacking prowess.
Napoli reportedly looked at bringing in Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic but his wages were beyond their financial capabilities and the Serbian ended up joining Inter instead.
De Laurentiis was impressed with his coach’s efforts this season and has stated that he is willing to provide the players necessary to go further, but whether Agger or Vermaelen are open to relocating to Italy remains to be seen.
Agger has been linked with Barcelona while some fans have suggested that he should be given a first-team future at Anfield and have hit out at Brendan Rodgers for often overlooking the Dane.
Vermaelen is currently nursing a knee injury and could miss out on the FA Cup final. The Belgian has become frustrated with a lack of match time this term but Napoli could face competition from Chelsea.
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