Fabián Ruiz (26 years old) has unlocked his full potential this season. The Spaniard will not finish it as he dreamed, celebrating the Scudetto with the Napoli shirt after having lifted the Italian Cup in 2020, but his work in midfield has been outstanding. According to Olocip’s Artificial Intelligence, he has so far been the best player on the team (with a value of 11.23) and fifth in all of Calcio. On Saturday he scored the decisive goal to beat Torino, the seventh of this championship, in which he also scored four assists. He had never reached these figures, and these data make him one of the big names to follow in this market.
The exbético ends contract in 2023 and there were no contacts to renew for more than two years. Napoli, who paid around 30 million in 2018 to sign him at the request of Carlo Ancelotti (who still holds him dearly), has put him at the top of his exit list because he has no intention of losing him as a free agent, which is going to happen with Insigne. The goal of Barça Koulibaly, for example, also only has one year left on his contract, but his case is different. De Laurentiis does have hope of renewing him and, furthermore, he would not see it as a disaster to let him leave for free at 32 years old.
The sale of the Spaniard will be a fundamental move for the Azzurri market, who have already received offers in recent months. The most important, as published by AS, was that of Newcastle in January. A proposal that the player never considered, both because of his intention to continue in Naples until the end of the course and because of the possibility of receiving more prestigious calls this summer. One of them may be that of Barcelona.
The azulgrana have already tried to get their services on several occasions, but they always had to run into the very high claims of the Neapolitans, who were around 60 million euros. The scenario has now changed and Xavi, who praised him before the Europa League tie (“He’s very good at playing between the lines, as a pivot, he’s physically strong, he has a shot… A great player”), has put him in his midfield ready. An idea that will inevitably depend on the departure of De Jong.
The Dutchman already has a transferable sign and has ended up in the sights of Manchester United and Bayern. Barça has confirmed his replacement, Carlos Soler from Valencia, but Fabián, a goal since his years at Betis, has become an opportunity this summer. De Laurentiis, at least initially, will remain consistent with his claims, but he also needs to sell him to finance his market and, above all, avoid losing him as a free agent. The price will have to come down, the will of the player will make the difference and in his last interview with AS he made it clear: “The idea of returning to Spain in the future is always there: it’s my home”. After years on the radars of Real Madrid, Atleti and Barça, this will have to be his summer.