The agreement is most likely to be a loan until the end of the season, as Napoli does not have the option of making it permanent.
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Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe is reportedly close to completing a loan deal to Napoli. Although talks between United and Napoli are still underway, Tuanzebe is poised to leave Aston Villa and join the Italian club. The defender joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan from Manchester United last summer, but the defender has failed to find playing time under Steven Gerrard and will now join Napoli until the end of the season. The Serie A team is unlikely to have the option of making his move permanent.
The agreement is most likely to be a loan until the end of the season, as Napoli does not have the option of making it permanent. Tuanzebe has only started six Premier League games for Villa this season, and he was left out of their squad for their match against Brentford on Sunday.
“The Axel situation – there is a lot of noise in the media whether he will be moving forward. We will know that in the next couple of days,” Villa manager Steven Gerrard said.
Tuanzebe, who has 18 months left on his contract with United, joined Villa in August and was expected to stay until the conclusion of the 2021/22 season. Tuanzebe has played just eight minutes of football for Villa since Gerrard replaced Dean Smith in November, with Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings being the manager’s favoured centre-back pairing.
Despite Tuanzebe’s lack of playing time, Gerrard expressed his desire to keep the 24-year-old at Villa Park earlier this week.
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“It’s very much in Ax’s hands and Manchester United’s hands,” the former Liverpool captain said. “We want him here. We would be delighted to keep him. We don’t just see it as a loan until the end of the season. It’s something we want to explore further than that. We just hope we’ve got that opportunity.”
“He’s a player we like very much and we’d like him to stay until the end of the season at least. Axel is his own man and will want to make his own decision. He is obviously owned by Manchester United which we all need to respect. I hope he wants to be part of this. In terms of what he has given on a daily basis, his leadership and training levels have been really strong and he is pushing to play,” Gerrard added.
