• Intermediary for Napoli admits Everton are in pole position • ‘He can either accept the English club or wait for an even bigger club’

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

An intermediary for Axel Witsel has confirmed Ronald Koeman’s side are in pole position to sign the Belgium midfielder after he reportedly rejected an offer from Napoli.

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Everton are rumoured to have submitted a £28.5m bid to Zenit St Petersburg for Witsel, who started all of Belgium’s matches at Euro 2016 including the quarter-final defeat to Wales. The 27-year-old is also reported to have been offered a £120,000 salary in a bid to persuade him to move to Goodison Park and reject an approach from the Serie A side Napoli.

“Axel is currently further away from Napoli,” Francesco Marseglia said on Radio Crc on Tuesday.

“The offer wasn’t really given a lot of consideration. Everton might even go above €4m net in salary.

“If you look at the financial aspect, that’s the right move, but in terms of career I’d choose Napoli every time, even putting the Champions League to one side.

“Napoli are an ambitious club, they’re growing every year, always taking more important players. Everton don’t seem like a great team.

“I don’t know exactly what the situation is, in my opinion he wants to take his time because he’s not yet convinced about what to do. He can either accept the English club or wait for an even bigger club.”

Koeman has made the signing of Witsel a priority since he was confirmed as Everton’s new manager last month.