It has now been reported that Cyril Ngonge is set to join Napoli following interest from Aston Villa earlier in the January window.
This has been a quiet transfer window for Aston Villa so far as they are yet to make a signing halfway through January.
It has been no secret that there has been an interest in bringing in an attacking option from Unai Emery and Co.
This week has seen rumours of a deal being nearly confirmed to be signing youngster, Kosta Nedeljkovic from Red Star. It must be said that he is a full-back so doesn’t fit the forward mould.
There have now been other links to Semih Kılıçsoy, Paulo Dybala and Emile Smith Rowe who are all attack-minded.
There was one name who was spoken about regularly at the beginning of the window, Cyril Ngonge. A move to Villa Park appears to be off.
Cyril Ngonge set for Napoli over Villa
Earlier in the month a report by Tuttomercartoweb suggested that Villa had lodged an initial bid for the Belgian.
Looking at his WhoScored profile, there were lots of good things to say about him. They suggest his main strengths are his crossing and finishing. They had suggested that his aerial duels may not be his best.
Given that he was able to play in a number of different positions, he looked like a good option to sign. Despite it being reported a £10m bid had been accepted, there has been no movement on that.
Now it has been reported by Fabrizio Romano that he is on the move but B6 isn’t going to be his destination.
On that, he said: “Napoli have agreed on terms with Hellas Verona for Belgian forward Cyril Ngonge. Understand fee is €18m fixed plus add-ons. Negotiations ongoing on player side and more details.”
Given that it was said that a deal worth £6m less was accepted for Villa, that was more than likely a false report. Now he appears to be signing for Serie A champions, Napoli, this month.
Villa are still in the market for a forward option so Ngonge felt like he could be beneficial. Reports had made it seem like he wanted to stay in Italy. This has worked and it looks like that is what he will get.
He could have represented a potential good piece of business. As a squad player, he may have proved useful but it isn’t a surprise that he isn’t signing.
