Gianfranco Matteoli, head of Cagliari’s youth sector, has commented on transfer speculation surrounding two of the clubs key players: Davide Astori and Radja Nainggolan.
Astori, a 26-year-old Italian central defender who has been capped three times by the Azzurri, has been linked to English Premier League club Southampton as well as Serie A rivals Napoli in recent weeks.
Both the Saints and the Partenopei – as well as Manchester City – have also been linked with Nainggolan, 24, a central midfielder who has four appearances for the Belgian national team thus far.
Matteoli, however, stayed relatively nonchalant about giving away any significant details, instead choosing to heap praise on the defender in a recent interview with Neapolitan radio station Radio Crc.
“He [Astori] is an important player and is not just liked at Napoli. He is an international [who] has depth and experience, but I do not know what his future will be,” he told the host, Raffaele Auriemma.
The Rossoblu youth chief, 53, took a similar route when commenting on the clubs Belgian midfielder.
“Nainggolan is incredible in the middle of the field because he can do everything,” he said.
There are no definitive sources for likely price tags as yet, but some of the more regularly quoted figures range between £15 million (€17.5m) for Nainggolan and £10 million (€11.7m) for Astori.
Both players have been virtual ever-presents for the Isolani this campaign, with Nainggolan contributing two goals and two assists in his 29 games and Astori having made 27 appearances thus far.
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