Manchester City youngster ready to reopen talks with Napoli

Oleksandr Zinchenko is prepared to make a permanent move away from Manchester City in a bid to play regular first team football, The Sun reports.

The 21-year-old has impressed in a number of different positions under Pep Guardiola, particularly in an unfavoured position at left-back, but his utility man status at the Etihad hasn’t been enough to see him earn enough minutes to keep the youngster satisfied this season.

The City boss is known to rate Zinchenko highly but risks losing the Ukrainian if he can’t integrate him into the first team setup on a more regular basis.

That is according to the player’s agent, Alan Prudnikov, who told Radio Marte: “We are always open to proposals coming from Italy.

“Napoli showed interest both over the summer and the year before, but never managed to find an agreement with Manchester City.

“I met with [Napoli director Cristiano] Giuntoli and we laid down the foundations of a deal with Zinchenko.

“But the two clubs could not agree a fee. We’d be ready to discuss it again, though.”

The 21-year-old, who is currently on international duty with Ukraine and started the 1-1 friendly draw with Italy on Wednesday, has started just once in the Premier League this season, helping City to a 2-0 win over Brighton.

Zinchenko started six of eight league appearances last season but will have hoped for more action as he continues his development, with the return from injury of Benjamin Mendy restricting his playing time, and opportunities in midfield proving few and far between.