The 2018/2019 season has just ended, but Napoli are already at work to plan next season. De Laurentiis's club are fathoming the transfer market in order to bolster the squad for coach Ancelotti.
For the attack, the Azzurri are evaluating both a poacher-type of striker and quality second-striker type of player. For the centre-forward role, Napoli want to bring Fabio Quagliarella back to the club and allow him to finish his career in the club he has always been a supporter of. The deal, however, seems tied to Mertens's future. Another profile appreciated by Napoli is that of Valencia's Rodrigo Machado, for whom the club had already made an enquiry last summer. The asking price, that could exceed 70 million, is however deemed to be too steep by the Italian club.
The situation about the quality players that could play upfront with Milik seems more complex. Gasperini's permanence at Atalanta could heavily impact the possibility to finalize a deal for Josip Ilicic, while PSV's Hirving Lozano remains an interesting profile for the wings but a deal appears complicated. A more reachable target could be Domenico Berardi from Sassuolo, as the 24-year-old winger could be the ideal player to play in a 4-3-3. Moreover, Napoli could also have quite some leverage in the negotiatons, since the Neroverdi have showed interest in many Azzurri's players like Chiriches, Ounas, Malcuit and Inglese.
For the midfield, Napoli are interested in Ismael Bennacer of Empoli, but they would have to sell Diawara and probably Rog before making a move for the Empoli's regista.
For the wing-back position, after closing a deal for Giovanni Di Lorenzo, the club has already reached an agreement with Timothy Castagne, but now they will have to persuade Atalanta to sell him for a sum in the region of 12-13 million euros. In Napoli's plan, the wing-back pairs could be Ghoulam and Castagne on the left and Malcuit-Di Lorenzo on the right. As mentioned before, however, the club has received some offers from Malcuit, including the one from Sassuolo. Should the Frenchman leave the club, Napoli could decide to keep pursuing Tottenham's Kieran Trippier.
