Contract extension negotiations between Inter Milan-bound Piotr Zielinski and Napoli “never got off the ground.”
Today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, give a brief postmortem on the ending of the Pole’s story in Naples.
It now appears to be only a matter of time before Inter seal the deal for Zielinski.
The 29-year-old is set to put pen to paper and commit his future to the Nerazzurri. He will join at the end of June when his contract with Napoli expires.
Zielinski will sign a three-year deal until the end of June 2027, Tuttosport explains.
And then this deal will contain the option of further season.
ZIelinski has fully made up his mind. He will call time on his eight years as a Napoli player and begin a new adventure in Milano.
Piotr Zielinski Talks With Napoli “Never Got Off The Ground”
Inter have had to be patient in their pursuit of Zielinski.
The Nerazzurri, ever-accustomed to sniffing out top-class free transfer opportunities under Beppe Marotta, seemed to sense that the Napoli midfielder could be available next summer before anyone else.
But it has only been in the past few weeks that those intuitions have been formally proven correct.
Two or three months ago, it still looked like an open question whether Zielinski would stay at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Last summer, the Pole had been subject to interest from the Saudi Pro League. But he rejected the possibility of such a move, even with eye-watering sums of money on offer.
That meant that Napoli were faced with the task of convincing Zielinski to extend his contract in the fall.
And there were talks towards that aim. But according to Tuttosport, those talks never really went that far.
For one reason or another, Zielinski was never very receptive to Napoli’s offers.
Whether this was because of offers that were initially too low for the player’s liking, or the chaos behind the scenes and the Partenopei’s erratic form this season, the Pole has been oriented towards a change in scenery.
So Inter waited out the process of Zielinski’s stalling negotiations with Napoli.
The Nerazzurri couldn’t openly negotiate with the former Empoli and Udinese midfielder before the start of January.
But Inter understood the dynamic of the situation. The negotiations between Zielinski and Napoli may have technically been there. But in reality, the midfielder made up his mind a while ago.