Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis assures Dries Mertens won’t be exchanged for Roma’s Alessandro Florenzi – “I love Dries a lot, I’ll keep him”.
The Partenopei patron has taken to doing ‘true or false?’ segments about the latest transfer rumours, and he returned to Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli today, starting with a question on Alvaro Morata.
“False,” De Laurentiis replied.
Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis assures Dries Mertens won’t be exchanged for Roma’s Alessandro Florenzi – “I love Dries a lot, I’ll keep him”.
The Partenopei patron has taken to doing ‘true or false?’ segments about the latest transfer rumours, and he returned to Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli today, starting with a question on Alvaro Morata.
“False,” De Laurentiis replied.
“Is Santiago Arias done? That’s false-ish. There are always around six we’re negotiating with, but nothing’s done yet.
“Guillermo Ochoa? He wouldn’t be bad, but I don’t know if there really has been contact.
“Rodrigo? He’s a good player but we have so many players in that position that it would be wrong for the others. He doesn’t have a €50m release clause.
“Alberto Grassi? Spal had him before, they know he’s worth €15-20m. If they won’t make an offer that matches his value then I’d prefer to keep him.
“Lucas Digne? False. I don’t know where he is or who he is. [Faouzi] Ghoulam is progressing very well and will be with us in mid-September.
“Matteo Darmian? Who wouldn’t like to have him? He can play on the right or the left, but we have to negotiate with Darmian.
“Federico Chiesa? I met with [Diego] Della Valle a month ago and he told me he’s not for sale, but that if he ever was for sale I’d be the first to get the call.
“A Mertens-Florenzi swap? False. It’s possible that Roma will do something crazy to get Mertens, but we won’t swap him with Florenzi. I love Dries a lot, I’ll keep him.”
Despite repeated denials, it’s reported that De Laurentiis called Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani’s brother to discuss a return to Naples.
“False. I’d never deny The Matador a meeting, but if that meant negotiating him coming to Napoli it would be impossible.
“I’ve read that PSG value him at €58m, but I’d never allow them to recover almost the full amount they paid for him.”