Aurelio De Laurentiis says Pepe Reina “is a fake problem”, “likes” Fiorentina starlet Federico Chiesa and reveals ‘Mr X’ could join Napoli.
In the second part of his interview with Corriere dello Sport on Friday, De Laurentiis also reflected on Napoli’s performance last season, expressed hope for the future and discussed whether Mario Rui or Alex Berenguer would arrive.
Aurelio De Laurentiis says Pepe Reina “is a fake problem”, “likes” Fiorentina starlet Federico Chiesa and reveals ‘Mr X’ could join Napoli.
In the second part of his interview with Corriere dello Sport on Friday, De Laurentiis also reflected on Napoli’s performance last season, expressed hope for the future and discussed whether Mario Rui or Alex Berenguer would arrive.
“Of course, I hope Napoli can have that consistency in results that we lacked at the beginning of last season,” continued the President.
“However, we paid a high price for Milik’s injury: Sarri did very well in bridging that gap, understanding Gabbiadini’s problems and reinventing Mertens as a striker.
“We’ve also extended our players’ contracts, which guarantees a long cycle.
“This is our policy and I’d say that in 14 years, we have never betrayed it: the results are for all to see.
“I think this Napoli have proven themselves to be better than other teams and the Napoli side of two seasons ago.
“It can be seen by the records we set, the number of points we picked up and the goals we scored last season.
“We’ll start [next season] with a very young team, which will only get better, thanks to players like Rog, Zielinski, Diawara and also Ounas, who has just arrived.
“Reina? It’s a fake problem. Pepe’s covered by his contract.
“Mario Rui or Berenguer? We’ll sign the one who decides to join us first.
“Neither have we discarded the possibility of a ‘Mr X’, someone who isn’t on the radar of journalists.
“Chiesa? I’ll be honest: Giuntoli and I like him, he’s a player with huge potential.
“Berardi? I prefer Chiesa but still regard Berardi a huge talent.”