Napoli are eyeing up a free transfer for Harry Maguire - who can secure a Manchester United exit from January.
The centre-half is by no means a guaranteed starter at Old Trafford and his contract will expire come the summer. It leaves him free to sign a pre-contract agreement from January 1 with an overseas club and Antonio Conte is keeping tabs on the situation.
The Napoli boss will have seen Maguire up close for a number of years and is weighing up bringing him to Serie A. They are in the market for a centre-half and have shortlisted the Englishman, who remains one of the most expensive defenders in history.
Conte has been hugely impressed with Scott McTominay, who decided to swap Manchester for Naples in the summer, and is now ready to return to Old Trafford for more new recruits, reports the Athletic.
Maguire is playing under his third permanent United manager in Ruben Amorim, but finds himself down the pecking order. The new boss plays with three centre-halves but that hasn't aided the Englishman's playing time with the likes of Leny Yoro, Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt all preferred.
Maguire though did start in the late Manchester derby win last weekend as the Red Devils secured victory at the Etihad and the former Leicester man was positive about his chances of remaining with the Premier League giants.
He said: "All the signs are positive at the moment and the chat that I’m having is really positive. I’ve still got this year to go with an option in their hands."
"I was injured when he [Amorim] first joined, so they’re looking after my minutes – I haven’t been able to play back-to-back games yet. Hopefully, with 90 minutes under my belt for the first time in two, three months [I can play consecutive matches]."
Maguire has been linked with the exit door in the past with West Ham among those keen, but chose to remain in Manchester. British players have increasingly been willing to go abroad and Napoli currently have both McTominay and Billy Gilmour as part of their midfield.