Aurelio De Laurentiis assured there’s “absolutely no chance” Gonzalo Higuain will leave Napoli and aimed a sideswipe at Rafa Benitez.
The President spoke to Mediaset Premium Sport this evening after Higuain’s agent criticised the “strategy” of mentioning the release clause.
Aurelio De Laurentiis assured there’s “absolutely no chance” Gonzalo Higuain will leave Napoli and aimed a sideswipe at Rafa Benitez.
The President spoke to Mediaset Premium Sport this evening after Higuain’s agent criticised the “strategy” of mentioning the release clause.
“There is absolutely no chance that Higuain will leave,” declared De Laurentiis. “Gonzalo is a Napoli player. As Nicolas, who I adore, lives outside of Italy, he didn’t see the constant false declarations from La Gazzetta dello Sport. This is why I made the clause clear.
“La Gazzetta would write one day that I was selling him for €40m, the next €50m, another €60m, but there is a precise clause.”
ADL was caught on camera last week telling a fan “I wish” Higuain would go, as he’d buy eight players with that fee.
“It was a provocation. When you are continually asked questions like this, you are tempted to joke around. In football there’s no sense of irony, people take themselves too seriously. We should be more relaxed, as football is a beautiful game.
“Higuain played in the Copa America, he has the right to a certain number of days off, but he knows there’s a new Coach and now it’s his turn to do his duty.
“If I were him, I’d rush to surprise everyone by attending training. Nicolas, try to get Gonzalo here as soon as possible, because we’re having fun!”
De Laurentiis commented on the other transfer stories surrounding the Partenopei this summer.
“I don’t see clubs queuing up with offers for our players. If these offers reach their representatives, that’s another matter, but as a club we haven’t received any.
“We are eyeing up several players, so I can say we’re reinforcing the full-backs and central defenders, in other words the priorities. We’re also working to improve the midfield, which has already changed with Mirko Valdifiori’s arrival.”
Maurizio Sarri is only in his second Serie A season, but De Laurentiis aimed criticism at predecessor Benitez.
“We are changing course with Sarri and must see what happens. We were already an extremely strong squad last year and with more careful management we’d be in the Champions League right now.”