Napoli have made contact with Russian giants Zenit about the prospect of prising Leandro Paredes back to Italy, reports Gianluca Di Marzio.
Paredes left Roma to join Zenit in 2016 and the Argentina international has quickly established himself as one of the best players in the division.
The 23-year-old has already been heavily linked with summer moves to Real Madrid and Juventus, but now Napoli are keen.
Napoli are expected to part ways with key midfielder Jorginho this summer and Carlo Ancelotti believes Paredes would be the ideal replacement.
The Serie A side are willing to spend as much as €35m (£30.6m) to sign the Zenit midfielder this summer, which would make Paredes the club’s second most expensive signing of all-time.
Paredes narrowly missed out on a place in Jorge Sampaoli’s World Cup squad and will be free to report for pre-season straight away.
Only three players won possession in the middle third more times than Paredes in the Russian Premier League this season (100).
