The agent of Napoli midfielder Fabian Ruiz has revealed that contract renewal talks are on hold amid touted interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The 23-year-old has established himself as a key figure for the Italian giants since joining them from Real Betis in 2018, as he has gone on to score 10 goals and provide five assists in 72 appearances.
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His current contract runs until 2023 and so Napoli appear to be in a strong position in terms of keeping him at the club, but as noted by Calciomercato, it has been suggested that both Barcelona and Real Madrid are interested in him which could complicate things.
It’s easy to see why given the classy Spaniard boasts excellent technical quality, composure, tactical awareness and creativity, all of which are traits that would allow him to adapt well to the style of play adopted by those two teams while he also boasts experience of playing in La Liga already too.
Now, his agent, Alvaro Torres, has revealed that contract renewal talks with Napoli are on hold while he has conceded that he sees his client at a big club in the future and that he has already received enquiries.
“At the moment he’s focused on Napoli,” he told Marca. “They’ve faced a lot of changes, including Carlo Ancelotti’s sacking and they’ve had a difficult year. We’ve parked the renewal for now until the end of the season.
“If big clubs enquire then yes [see him at a big club]. Obviously a lot of important clubs have asked about him and his situation, and we’ve told Napoli. But now Fabian has to think about Napoli and it’s natural that these things happen after he was the best player at the European Under-21 Championship and he’s had three good seasons. We all agree that he’s going to be one of the big players this decade.
“No [he doesn’t have a release clause], and I don’t know how much he’d cost.”
While Torres makes a point of Ruiz being focused on Napoli, the fact that renewal talks are on hold and he envisages him being at a ‘big club’ in the future perhaps says it all in terms of his plans and those potentially being away from Naples.
Barcelona and Real Madrid will arguably be alerted by his comments, but perhaps the summer will reveal all about where the Spanish ace will be for the foreseeable future as much will likely depend on whether or not he signs that contract renewal.