Carlo Ancelotti could look to raid former club Napoli for midfield Piotr Zielinski in January, according to reports.
The Italian is edging ever closer to becoming the new Everton manager, with it expected that he could be confirmed as Marco Silva’s successor early next week.
With his announcement, there is likely to be plenty of transfer speculation over who he could bring to the club, with the January transfer window fast approaching.
One such name who has emerged as a front-runner is Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is currently a free agent after leaving LA Galaxy, however another man has now emerged as a potential recruit.
Poland international Zielinski had been a key player for Ancelotti during his time at the San Paolo, and according to Milan News (via Sport Witness), the midfielder could be someone who the 60-year old coach looks at.
The report claims that with Ancelotti having been handed a decent budget at Everton, an official offer for the 25-year old midfielder “should arrive” in the next few weeks.
While it is difficult to imagine Napoli letting Zielinski go, with the midfielder having played all but two of their games this season, it remains to be seen what pull Everton could now have and what Napoli’s stance would be.
Read Everton Verdict
At this stage, this very much feels like nothing more than speculation. As is the case when any manager joins a new club, a catalogue of his former players become linked to the club, and Zielinski certainly feels that way.
The Poland international possesses a lot of quality and I would personally be pleased to see him move to Goodison Park, but I just doubt the legitimacy of the reports that claim that Ancelotti could be interested.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is notoriously difficult to deal with, and I’m also not sure that he would allow the recently sacked Ancelotti to take one of his main players, whether Everton were to pay the required amount or not.
It could yet happen, but I’d take this report with a healthy dose of salt.
