Italians interested in Barcelona midfielder.
Napoli could be set to step up their interest in Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano, with Football Italia claiming the Italian side will present a formal offer to the Catalan giants next week.
The Argentine is much admired by Napoli manager Rafael Benitez, and the two worked together to great success during their time at Liverpool.
However, Mascherano has not had the best of times since moving to Barcelona in 2010, often played out of position at centre-back instead of his preferred anchoring midfield role.
Napoli are keen to sign a player in this position and have supposedly made the Barca star their top target for the January transfer window, with the Serie A outfit set to begin negotiations as soon as next week.
Mascherano may favour an opportunity to move clubs and play more regular first team football, as well as link up with Benitez again, with the Spaniard’s Napoli side enjoying a strong start to the season in Serie A this year.
It is unclear if Barcelona are likely to be willing to part ways with Mascherano easily, as they are currently short of defensive cover, though they intend to look into the signing of Porto starlet Eliaquim Mangala, whom they also targeted in the summer.