Sold for £130k, now a goal of table-toppers: Leeds had a mare on 21 y/o “terminator” – opinion
Leeds United summer time departee Elia Caprile is attracting the curiosity of Napoli forward of the January switch window.
What’s the discuss?
That’s in keeping with Mario Giuffredi, with the Italian agent revealing in a latest interview with Radio Marte (by way of Sport Witness) that Aurelio De Laurentiis is planning on signing the goalkeeper this winter, with the Napoli president believed to be utilizing his connections with the Bari proprietor – his son Luigi De Laurentiis – to seal the 21-year-old on a cut-price deal.
This is bound to return as an enormous blow to Victor Orta and Leeds United, because the Whites’ director of soccer was reported to have negotiated a 50% sell-on clause within the shot-stopper’s €150k (£130k) transfer to the Stadio San Nicola – one thing that can develop into virtually nugatory ought to Caprile certainly go on to hyperlink up with Gli Azzurri for a diminished payment.
Regarding the way forward for the ‘keeper, Giuffredi mentioned: “The sporting director of Napoli, [Cristiano] Giuntoli, will not do anything in January. He will take only two players from Bari, [Walid] Cheddira and Caprile, to put in the squad next season.”
Orta mare
While it will seem extremely unlikely that, ought to Caprile have remained at Elland Road this season, the 21-year-old would have gone on to displace the imperious Illan Meslier as Jesse Marsch’s primary, contemplating simply how spectacular the Italian has been for Bari, Orta’s determination to money in on the goalkeeper for such a small payment is already proving to have been a shocker.
Indeed, over his 13 Serie B appearances this season, the £1.1m-rated expertise has been in sensational kind, serving to his aspect maintain three clear sheets and saving one penalty, in addition to making a mean of two.4 saves – at a hit charge of 67% – per sport.
These returns have seen the 21-year-old common a particularly spectacular SofaScore match score of 6.85, at the moment rating him as Michele Mignani’s tenth-best performer within the second tier of Italian soccer.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the shot-stopper’s performances have seen the participant who Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig in comparison with Gianluigi Buffon and dubbed each an “absolute star” and a “terminator” earn a substantial quantity of reward, with agent Graziano Battistini stating of the teenager after his incredible begin to the season:
“Obviously a start like this surprised everyone a bit. Not so much me, because I’ve known him for some time and I had faith that he would respond presently in the face of this new adventure.
“I hoped that the environment Bari could give him confidence. Once this happened, Elia demonstrated all his worth and everything came as a consequence. I was aware that all this could happen. Now we just have to continue like this.”
And, with it showing as if Serie A table-toppers Napoli might now be set to snap the Italy U21 worldwide up in January, coupled with simply how a lot the 21-year-old has developed since his transfer to Bari, Orta’s determination to half with Caprile this summer time is proving to have been increasingly of a mare for the director of soccer with every passing day.