22 year old Polish international Piotr Zielinski completed his move to Napoli after he took his medical yesterday and posed with club president Aurelio De Laurientiis in front of the press. Liverpool seemed to have given up the pursuit of the youngster and will in turn focus on Dahoud of Borrusia Monchengladbach.
Napoli swooped in to capitalise on Liverpool and AC Milan’s lack of conviction in their approach for the Empoli youngster. In June Zielinski looked set to have sealed a move to Merseyside to play for Jurgen Klopp’s side, but the deal seem to have come to a standstill after Liverpool failed to reach an agreement with Udinese who own the youngster’s services.
The ‘Could-Have-Beens’
It is quite unclear why Liverpool hit a brick wall in their pursuit of the hard-working midfielder who would have been an asset to Jurgen Klopp’s side. What is clear was that despite Zielinski’s hard insistence on moving to Anfield, Liverpool failed to reach an agreement with the Pozzo family who own Udinese.
Milan’s financial setbacks and their delay in the takeover also caused them to pull out of the race. Adriano Galliani had an agreement with both the player and his club only to pull out at the last minute because they lacked the necessary funds to complete the operation.
Zielinski Yields to Napoli’s Interest
Last month Napoli president De Laurientiis spoke to the press and admitted that Zielinski had rejected Napoli’s approaches as he was waiting for Liverpool to revive their interest in him.
“I negotiated for Zielinski with the Pozzo family and we finalised every detail,” De Laurentiis told the Corriere dello Sport.
“Instead it now seems as if the player is doing everything possible to resist the move and not come here. He wants Liverpool” (via Football-Italia).
THT had reported earlier about Napoli’s interest in the youngster which seems to have now borne fruit as Napoli has completed the addition of the central midfielder who played for Maurizio Sarri’s old club. However, the young box to box midfielder will have to work very hard to earn a place in the starting lineup ahead of Jorginho and Allan. He seems to be a direct replacement for David Lopez who looks set to complete a move to Spain to play for Real Betis.
