Luis Enrique interested in Napoli's Callejon as back-up to MSN
Manuel Garcia Quilon, Pepe Reina's agent, was at Camp Nou on Wednesday to offer the club the Napoli goalkeeper. However, his visit to the Catalan club's offices also had another, more important motive for Barça (Reina's of no interest): to analyse a possible deal for Jose Callejon, who Quilon also represents.
Callejon, 29, has demonstrated he is a complete player: he can run at players, score goals, can play on either flank and also helps out in defence. Luis Enrique likes the idea of signing him as he responds to the type of player the Asturian is looking for: players with character who work for the team.
It should be pointed out that Callejon has been linked with Barça for several years. The forward is ready to return to the city of Barcelona, where he played for Espanyol before Jose Mourinho took him back to Real Madrid.
His role at the Azulgrana would be as the fourth forward. That means the alternative to the MSN. However, talks with Napoli make the deal complicated. President De Laurentiis does not want to sell for less than 30 million euros, while Barça don't want to go above 18 million euros.
The president of the Serie A club is always a tough negotiator when it comes to the transfer market. He's also aware of Callejon's importance to the side. Last season, the Andalusian scored 13 goals and created another 13 in his 47 games spread across the league, cup and the Europa League.
Talks could improve based on the fact Callejon has just two years left on his deal with the Italian club. However, it's still Napoli who have control of the situation, given there are various offers for the player, which means they should be able to drive the price up. In Spain, for example, Valencia have also asked about a possible transfer.
