PSG launch bid for Real Madrid and United target Fabián

After losing key figures like Insigne, Koulibaly, Mertens and Ospina, Napoli could soon be saying goodbye to Fabián Ruiz. The ex-Betis player’s contract expires in 2023; plans to renew it have stalled and several top clubs have stated an interest in taking him on as a free agent. Among them, Real Madrid.

Carlo Ancelotti, who was responsible to taking Fabián to Napoli in 2018, still holds the player in great esteem and would welcome him at Madrid when his contract is up next summer. But that’s a scenario that Napoli want to avoid at all costs. For that reason, the Italians have started talking to several interested clubs with the idea of selling the player now rather than lose him as a free agent.

This morning, Italian sports daily Corriere dello Sport made a stark claim blunt about where the player could be heading. The Rome-based outlet published on its front page: “Fabián set for PSG move” explaining that the Ligue 1 champions quietly began a formally closed negotiation for around 25 million euros. As AS learned, PSG’s interest is real and serious, but they are not the only club negotiating for the Spaniard. Manchester United is also in daily talks with the player’s agents and Napoli - Barça too, as AS reported, made contact but that did not lead to negotiations.

The player, for his part, hopes that the issue will be resolved soon. Yesterday, he and the club decided it would better if he didn’t play a part in the friendly against Espanyol. Sports director David Giuntoli, meanwhile, is searching for a replacement should Fabián leave. Antonin Barák and Giovani Lo Celso are two of the first names to have been mentioned. Finding a replacement of his calibre (Fabián, according to Olocip, was the team’s best player last season) won’t be easy.