Gilardino, who is currently at Chinese side Guangzhou, having signed for them in the summer of 2014; spent the second half of last season on loan at Napoli’s Serie A rivals Fiorentina, but they decided against signing him.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, Napoli have contacted Guangzhou for information on the striker. If Napoli do in fact sign the striker, they will getting a player is 15th in all-time top goalscorers in Serie A and 3rd of those still playing. He is currently on 175 goals in the Italian top division. Of those still playing in only Francesco Totti and Antonio Di Natale.
Successful Career
Gilardino has played for a number of Serie A clubs, starting at Piacenza, making his way to AC Milan via Verona and Parma. He spent three seasons at the San Siro scoring 44 goals in 132 games. These were some of the most successful seasons for Gilardino, trophy wise. As he helped Milan with the 2006/07 Champions League, 2007 European Super Cup and 2007 FIFA Club World Cup.
Following his three seasons with Milan, he moved to Fiorentina, where he spent the next four seasons. The longest time he has spent at one club in his career. He played 143 games in all competitions with Fiorentina, scoring 59 goals.
Italian international
On the international stage Gilardino has 57 caps for Italy, scoring 19 goals for the national side. He was given his debut by Marcelo Lippi on September 4 2004 in a World Cup qualifier against Norway after impressing at 2004 Olympic Games and also leading the Italian under-21s to glory at the 2004 Under-21 European Championships.
If Napoli want to the sign Gilardino, they probably have to pay around €1.5 million, after all that is the fee that Fiorentina had agreed to pay to sign him after his loan spell with them in the second half of last season, before deciding against signing their former player.