Transfer rumour · archive

Exequiel Zeballos to Napoli

Quiet since 25 August 2026. Last report: Fabrizio Romano. Probability when it went quiet: 11%.

Napoli want Exequiel Zeballos and the player wants Napoli, having already turned down €5m a year net at CSKA Moscow to keep the move alive. Personal terms are done, on a five year deal. What is missing is a fee both clubs can live with. Napoli have offered around €8-10m across various reports; a €9m bid has already been rejected by Boca, who see their winger's contract running down to December 2026 and know that clock cuts both ways. Boca have also fielded interest from Celta Vigo, though Napoli remain the stronger thread. The story has been carried by serious voices. Fabrizio Romano broke the personal terms agreement and the size of Napoli's bid, and followed up with a Napoli director's own words on timing. Cesar Luis Merlo, Alfredo Pedulla and German Garcia Grova have each added detail on the fee and the contract signing, giving this more than one strand of corroboration rather than a single unverified leak. The chance sits against the odds for now, not because either side has walked away, but because the fee gap has hardened rather than closed. A €9m proposal has already been knocked back twice, and Napoli's own sporting director has signalled they are prepared to wait rather than chase Boca's price. That patient stance, set against Boca's shrinking leverage as the contract runs down, makes this finely poised but tilted against a swift close. Napoli's recent business gives a sense of their ceiling. They paid €12m for a Real Madrid asset in 2024, €10m to Empoli in both 2019 and 2025, and €10m to Hellas Verona. An €8-10m fee for Zeballos would sit comfortably inside that p

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