Man City outcast Oleksandr Zinchenko wanted by Real Betis in January
Ukrainian star has found it hard to make his mark at City so Betis want to revive summer interest in January - but face competition from Napoli
REAL BETIS are considering reviving their interest in Manchester City prospect Oleksandr Zinchenko in January.
The Spanish club wanted to snap up the highly-rated youngster last summer in a season-long loan deal.
City put the blocks on a move when they insisted they would only let Zinchenko, 21, leave in a permanent deal if someone stumped up £16million.
That ended the Betis interest straight away - but according to reports in Spain they are planning to come back in for the left-sided player when the transfer window opens.
claim the La Liga side want to make another attempt to take Zinchenko to Spain in January to boost their options at left-back.
The club were left short in that position at the close of the summer window when Lazio signed their defender Riza Durmisi.
It means only Junior Firpo is the one recognised player in that position in their squad and they want Zinchenko to come in and make it his own.
Betis are still understood to favour a loan arrangement until the summer, with the option of making it permanent if all goes well then.
And they feel the fact Zinchenko has made just two first team appearances for Pep Guardiola's side so far this season would help them persuade City to accept the short-term offer.
But Real's hopes of getting a deal done for the Ukraine international could be wrecked by added interest in the player from Italian side Napoli.
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Zinchenko's agent has claimed he spoke with Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli about the prospect of making a move to Serie A.
Speaking on , Alan Prudnikov said: "We are always open to proposals coming from Italy.
"Napoli showed interest both over the summer and the year before, but never managed to find an agreement with Manchester City.
"I met with Giuntoli and we laid down the foundations of a deal with Zinchenko.
"But the two clubs could not agree a fee. We'd be ready to discuss it again, though."