Manchester City are stepping up their pursuit of Napoli’s Fabián Ruiz and sent a scout to the Champions League game against Salzburg on Wednesday to watch the midfielder in action.

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The 23-year-old was the outstanding player of the Under-21 European Championship last summer when Spain won their fifth title and has impressed in Serie A since joining Napoli from Real Betis in 2018.

City face competition from Barcelona and Real Madrid, who are keeping an eye on the development of a player who can play centrally or on the left of midfield and has been likened to David Silva. He made his Spain debut in June and has five caps.

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Napoli paid the buyout clause of €30m (£25.5m) when they signed Ruiz from Betis last year but will expect a significant return on that investment if he leaves in the summer.

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The Napoli chairman, Aurelio De Laurentiis, said last week: “I paid €30m for Fabián and he’s a fantastic player. If some of the European top clubs were to offer €180m we can start talking about selling him.”

The relationship between Napoli and City took a turn for the worse over Jorginho, who ended up joining Chelsea together with the then Napoli manager Maurizio Sarri in July 2018, but that is not expected to be a problem if an offer for Ruiz meets Napoli’s valuation.