Napoli center midfielder Fabian Ruiz is one of Real Madrid’s top targets in the summer transfer window, but the Serie A club is reportedly playing hardball with interested parties.
It’s been clear that if FC Barcelona or Real Madrid want to sign Fabian Ruiz this summer, they will have to pay a significant sum of money. The Spanish midfielder seems to favor a move to a La Liga powerhouse in 2020, but since he’s locked in with Napoli until the end of the 2022-2023 season, his current club has no reason to sell.
According to a report from La Repubblica, via Football-Italia.net, Napoli won’t budge on their sky-high asking price for Ruiz. They won’t sell unless they get an offer they simply cannot refuse, and the report mentions an offer in excess of 100 million euros as one they’d accept.
Of course, 100 million euros – or more – would be a ridiculous sum of money for Ruiz. He’s an excellent player who can develop into something more at the age of 24, but it says something that his asking price appears to be double that of Dani Ceballos‘ evaluation. Ceballos, who is a Real Madrid player and was once Ruiz’s teammate at Real Betis, is arguably better and is a year younger.
Ruiz is often described as an “elegant” player, and he is one of best passers in European football. A technically gifted player, Ruiz could develop into an important player for the Spanish national team in a few years and has all the traits to be a great fit in La Liga for either Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Other rumors have indicated that in the current climate, Napoli would be willing to significantly reduce their asking price to something more reasonable, perhaps around 60 million euros. Still other rumors have mentioned 80 million euros as the targeted fee.
But back to 100 million euros? That’s far too much and shows how unwilling Napoli are to sell. And again, with his contract due until 2023, Napoli have no reason to sell one of their most valuable players.