‘We’re confident’: Club plans to sell reported £23m Tottenham and Everton target omitted on Sunday

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Napoli are “confident” of finding a buyer for Arkadiusz Milik before the transfer window closes with Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Fulham potential options for the Serie A striker, sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli has told Sky Italia.

In an ideal world, the Partenopei would keep hold of the Poland international, with Gennaro Gattuso looking to guide the Coppa Italia champions back into the Champions League places after a disappointing 2019/20 campaign.

But the situation is simple.

With Milik’s contract expiring in 2021, Napoli have no choice but to sell if they wish to avoid losing one of Italy’s hottest strikers for a vastly reduced fee in January or, god forbid, nothing next summer.

Gazzetta dello Sport claims Napoli want £23 million – a fee Tottenham are willing to pay to fulfil Jose Mourinho’s demands for a new number nine.

Fulham and Newcastle are interested too, although Milik’s £60,000-a-week contract demands mean negotiations won’t be easy.

“We needed a striker who could hold up the ball. Arkadiusz Milik didn’t want to stay so we sought a different approach with (Victor) Osimhen and Andrea Petagna,” says Giuntoli after the former Ajax and Bayer Leverkusen man was left out of Sunday’s 6-0 thrashing of Genoa.

“The transfer market is open for another week, we are confident we can get a deal done that will suit both us and Milik.”

Everton are also in the race for Milik, according to Gianluca di Marzio.

And it’s fair to say Carlo Ancelotti has a track record when it comes to re-signing former players, with James Rodriguez and Milik’s former Napoli teammate Allan arriving at Goodison Park this year already.