Polish star Piotr Zielinski ‘prefers Liverpool’ move

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has said Udinese midfielder Piotr Zielinski is heading for Liverpool after snubbing Napoli.

Liverpool and Napoli have lodged bids, believed to be €12million for the Polish midfielder, and both offers have been accepted by the Serie A club, but the player is not keen on Naples and fancies a move to Anfield.

Napoli chief De Laurentiis says they have been unable to convince the player to move to the south of the country.

“The lad prefers Liverpool,” De Laurentiis told the Il Mattino newspaper. “Clearly he’s never been to Naples before and probably he’s in love with The Beatles. If he doesn’t want to come, then he won’t come. If I were him, though, I would drop everything and run here.”

According to Mediaset, De Laurentiis claimed it had taken “just 20 minutes to reach an agreement with [Udinese president Giampaolo] Pozzo when he came to Rome, but it’s the player who is refusing [to move]”.

Zielinski has spent the last two seasons on loan at Empoli from Udinese, establishing himself as a key first-team member, making 35 appearances, scoring five goals.

The Poland international, who was an unused sub in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Northern Ireland, previously played under Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri on loan at Empoli, but even that seems like it will not be enough to tempt the 22-year-old to stay in Italy.

“He’s probably in love with the Beatles” is a wonderful twist on ‘Didn’t fancy her anyway’.