Lorenzo Insigne, captain of Napoli and a staple for the Italian national football team, has recently purchased his second house in Naples. It is a breathtaking villa in Posillipo, a great location with an amazing view where the player has always dreamed of living. But he might not be able to spend too much time in his dream home – unless, of course, his negotiations with Napoli proceed as planned. But this doesn’t seem very likely at the moment. And if the negotiations fall through, the Gunners are in pole position to sign him.
Insigne
Born in Frattamaggiore, a commune in the Naples Metropolitan Area, Insigne started playing football at a small team in Sant’Arpino, just a few minutes drive from the city. His first paid transfer happened while he was still a youth: Napoli signed him from Olimpia Sant’Arpino for a grand total of €1,500. The amount that an average player can easily win within a day of fun at the Spin online casino was very well spent. In the decade and change, he spent at Napoli, the value of Insigne grew from a high roller’s wager on a hand of blackjack to several record-breaking progressive jackpots: according to Transfermarkt, he is now worth close to €50 million.
Aside from three brief loan spells with Cavese, Foggia, and Pescara between 2010 and 2012, Insigne spent his entire career at Napoli. During this time, he played in more than 300 league games and scored almost 90 goals for the team.
Internationally, he represented Italy in almost 50 matches, including the EURO 2020 final, where he scored the decisive penalty against England.
Moving on?
There is a lot of speculation on the 30-year-old forward’s future at Naples. The negotiations about his contract’s renewals are still in an impasse – and time is running out, as his contract expires next June. His agent will start looking for a new contract starting January 1st – and there are quite a few suitors already lining up to sign the player.
One of them is Inter, with a contract keeping him in Milano for four years on a €6 million yearly salary, Eurosport.it learned. But Inter is not the only team looking to sign him – there are several others, including the Spurs and the Gunners, who would gladly add him to their roster.
Italian sports newspaper Corriere dello Sport has revealed, as early as this August, that Arsenal is monitoring Insigne’s contract situation. And now, it claims that the Gunners are the closest to actually bringing the player home.
It is an open secret that Insigne’s agent Vincenzo Pisacane is still in talks with Napoli’s head Aurelio De Laurentiis but there has been no breakthrough in the discussions just yet. Insigne, in turn, might still decide to stay put at Napoli and enjoy his dream home instead of moving on – in the past, he repeatedly expressed his desire to end his career at the same team where he started it all those years ago.