After suffering a setback in their Serie A campaign, reports say Napoli are interested in signing Lille left-back Reinildo Mandava.

Ahead of the coming January transfer window, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis wants to provide coach Luciano Spalletti with some reinforcements next month. This is in order to help alleviate the injury issues present in the squad, with one of the problem areas being the left-back role.

Mario Rui, who has held down the position, is fatigued, and Spalletti  – the situation which left Spaletti with limited options. Faouzi Ghoulam and Juan Jesus have not been found convincing.

Since his contract expires this summer, Napoli are willing to pay a small fee in order to sign him immediately.

According to some transfer rumours, Mandava could still cost as low as €5m plus add-ons as the Partenopei hopes that the prospect of cashing in a little will convince Lille to accept the deal, even if their offer is below his regular market value.

Meanwhile, there is currently no space for Mandava should his transfer become successful due to the Serie A rule. Thus, Napoli may likely cut Ghoulam from the list.

After returning from injury, the 30-year-old Algerian has hardly contributed to Napoli’s work so far this campaign. So, getting some deal done on him would excite the woman.

With his contract set to expire and there is no new deal, he is expected to be sidelined for a few months. Napoli also have an option that could see the club completely sever ties and terminate his contract early.

Napoli is currently fourth on the Serie A table with 36 points, four points behind defending champions Inter Milan.

They have also qualified for the knockout stage of the Europa League, where they will play against Barcelona.

Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed