Neapolitan sunshine or Birmingham rain? Axel Tuanzebe knows what is more tempting

Manchester United have received an inquiry from Napoli for Axel Tuanzebe, who is on loan at Aston Villa. According to various reports, the Italians are willing to offer half a million dollars to secure a six-month loan of the Congolese.

With Kalidou Koulibaly heading to the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal, Napoli want to add another defender to their ranks. The Italian club approached United this week about taking the 24-year-old centre back on loan until the end of the season. Tuanzebe is interested in talking to Napoli because he wants to play more regularly, but the matter is complicated by his loan contract, which expires at the end of the season.

He has played just eight minutes since Gerrard was appointed in November and started six Premier League games, all under former boss Dean Smith. However, new Villa boss Steven Gerrard still wants to keep the Manchester United man in Birmingham as cover.

"It's very much in Axel's hands and Manchester United's hands. We want him here, we would be delighted to keep him. We don't just see it as a loan until the end of the season. It's something we want to explore further than that. We just hope we've got that opportunity. He's a player we like very much and we'd like him to stay until the end of the season at least. Axel is his own man and will want to make his own decision."

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Gerrard might be late. Tuanzebe, who is in his third loan spell with the Birmingham club, has grown frustrated by the lack of playing time. The call from Stadio Diego Armando Maradona is too tempting to ignore. In recent years, many players found out that playing in Italy is much better than sitting on the bench in England. Chris Smalling, Ashley Young, Romelu Lukaku, Edin Dzeko and Tammy Abraham all swapped the Premier League for Serie A with pleasing results. It looks like Tuanzebe will be the next.