Napoli close to hi-jacking Juventus’ deal for new forward

Napoli have lodged a €22m (£19.7m) bid for Juventus target Keita Balde and are now confident of signing the Lazio forward, reports Radio Kiss Kiss, via Football Italia.

Keita has entered the final 12 months of his existing deal with Lazio and has now been linked with a summer move to every single one of their main Serie A rivals.

Inter and AC Milan have both failed in their attempts to sign the Senegal international at one stage this summer, while there were suggestions Keita was holding out for Juventus to firm up their interest.

Max Allegri’s side have now reportedly agreed personal terms with the 22-year-old but are yet to agree a fee with Lazio, while Napoli now appear to have stolen a march in the race to sign the forward.

Talks between Napoli and Lazio are reportedly at an advanced stage, although it remains to be seen whether Keita would be willing to join Maurizio Sarri’s side or hold out for the Serie A champions.

Keita scored six more goals in Serie A last season (16) than his three previous campaigns combined for Lazio. Not only that, but of those that scored at least 10 Serie A goals, only three players had a better conversion rate than Keita (22.9%).