Why Napoli have advantage over Inter in pursuit of Italy international Lucca | OneFootball

Several Serie A sides are interested in securing a deal for Udinese striker and current Italy international Lorenzo Lucca in the summer transfer window, but Napoli are reportedly ahead of Inter in the queue for the towering 24-year-old. Here’s why.

According to Thursday’s reports, Inter and Napoli are the two most interested Serie A sides for Lucca as things stand. Milan had also sounded out the possibility of signing him during the January transfer window in the event that their deal with Feyenoord for Santiago Gimenez fell through.

Valued in the region of €30m, Lucca could be poised to step up to a team competing in Europe for the 2025-26 season.

epa11608575 Udinese’s Lorenzo Lucca (C) celebrates a goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match Parma Calcio vs Udinese Calcio at Ennio Tardini stadium in Parma, Italy, 16 September 2024. EPA-EFE/SERENA CAMPANINI

Why Napoli lead Inter in Lucca pursuit

According to reports from Corriere dello Sport, Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis is one of the key reasons why Napoli have an advantage over Inter in their Lucca pursuit.

ADL has a strong relationship with Udinese owner Giampaolo Pozzo, and the two already have a track record when it comes to transfers between the two clubs – Piotr Zielinski, Alex Meret and Fabio Quagliarella examples of players who have already moved between the two clubs.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis arrives for the screening of the film “Freaks Out” presented in competition on September 8, 2021 during the 78th Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

There are also suggestions that Lucca would have more game-playing opportunities with Napoli than he would with Inter, given that the Nerazzurri already have Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez on their books.

Napoli, however, already have an alternative option lined up in the form of 21-year-old Parma striker Ange-Yoan Bonny, according to reports from Corriere dello Sport.

Bonny is younger than Lucca and therefore has more room to grow, is expected to come slightly cheaper than Lucca, and is more likely to accept a role as an understudy or rotation option according to Thursday’s reports.