During the late evening hours on Monday, Napoli and Brighton have agreed on a transfer for the Norwegian midfielder Leo Skiri Østigård, according to TV 2’s information.
If the hard house from Åndalsnes passes the medical test, he will sign for the historic club from southern Italy where, among others, Diego Maradona has played before.
Negotiations between Brighton and Napoli have been going on for well over a month. As TV 2 understands it, it was the division of payments and Brighton’s resale percentage that were the last details that came in order on Monday.
It is expected that the transfer fee for Østigård will have a total budget approaching NOK 100 million, including various bonuses.
Serie A club Torino had long ago met Brighton’s price requirements for Østigård, as TV 2 has previously mentioned. But due to the Norwegian’s strong desire to become a Napoli player, negotiations with Napoli have continued.
Now the transition saga is coming to a happy end for the 22-year-old who had his big breakthrough for the Norwegian national team during the four Nations League matches in June.
This autumn, he can experience games in the Champions League, as Napoli qualified for the prestigious tournament thanks to third place in Serie A last season.
Renowned Italian journalists Gianluca Di Marzio and Fabrizio Romano were the first to report on the agreement between Brighton and Naples.
Østigård created a very good reputation in Italian football during his loan spell in Genoa this spring, where he played hard and kept a clean sheet six times in 14 games.
Now he will fight for a place from the start in Luciano Spalletti’s team, where Kalidou Koulibaly and Amir Rrahmani were a solid stopper pair last season.
Koulibaly is connected to a transfer away from Napoli and is mentioned as relevant for, among others, Chelsea.
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