Napoli president confirms Allan will sign for Everton

Brazil international Allan will complete a transfer to Everton, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has confirmed.

Allan is set to finally depart Napoli in a reported £25 million ($33m) deal after repeated talk of a move away from the Serie A club in recent years.

A €100m transfer (£90m/$119m) to Paris Saint-Germain was mooted in 2019 when Carlo Ancelotti was in charge of the Partenopei.

But Allan is instead now heading to Merseyside to link up with Ancelotti again at Goodison Park, De Laurentiis says.

The Napoli chief bemoaned the number of top clubs fishing around for bargain transfers last week, amid reports of Manchester City being interested in a deal for Kalidou Koulibaly.

“I see many buzzards on the transfers market," said the Napoli chief.

"You know who they are, they seem to be waiting to swoop in, but we have impenetrable armour and they won't get what they want or at the prices they want."

However, De Laurentiis has now conceded that the club are powerless to prevent Allan from moving onto pastures new, with his move to Everton set to be confirmed before the 2020-21 season gets underway.

He told Radio Kiss Kiss: "We are at the final greetings. Allan will go to Everton."

Allan, 29, joined Napoli from Udinese in 2015 and has since made over 150 Serie A appearances for the club, also winning the Coppa Italia last season.

The highly-rated midfielder has proven himself as one of the most consistent performers in Italian football at Stadio San Paolo, but he will now be tasked with helping Everton climb the Premier League table next season.

The Toffees have also been widely linked with a move for James Rodriguez, another of Ancelotti's former players, from Real Madrid.

As reported by Goal, the Colombian playmaker is closing in on a €35 million (£31m/$42m) switch to Goodison Park, which will bring to an end his frustrating six-year spell at Santiago Bernabeu.

James only featured in eight La Liga matches for Zidane's side last season, having returned to Madrid from a two-year loan stint at Bayern Munich in the summer of 2019.