Aurelio De Laurentiis “hasn’t spoken” to Gonzalo Higuain, but doesn’t think he’d go to Napoli’s “historic rivals” Juventus.
Last season’s Capocannoniere has been linked with a move to the Bianconeri, but his current club are insisting on payment of the €94m release clause.
Aurelio De Laurentiis “hasn’t spoken” to Gonzalo Higuain, but doesn’t think he’d go to Napoli’s “historic rivals” Juventus.
Last season’s Capocannoniere has been linked with a move to the Bianconeri, but his current club are insisting on payment of the €94m release clause.
With Paul Pogba seemingly close to a €125m move to Manchester United, it has been suggested that the Turin club could do that, but the Partenopei President dismisses that.
“You’re confusing unilateralism with bilateralism,” De Laurentiis scolded reporters in a Press conference at the pre-season training camp in Dimaro.
“Even if Juventus were to come back into the picture, they’d need Higuain’s consent. On the one hand you profess yourself one of the curva, singing Napoli songs and then you go to Napoli’s historic rival?
“The game of games has always been with Juventus. I haven’t spoken to Higuain, so all these allegations are coming from the media, driven by different agendas.
“The only offer I’ve had was from the Atletico [Madrid] President [Enrique Cerezo] a month ago and I told him we couldn’t do it.
“He offered me €60m plus two or three players and I said no.
“Who would Higuain be betraying? Himself. You shouldn’t be under the curva which bears the colours of the team and singing songs of love if you then want to leave. It [leaving] would be a contradiction, also because Juve and Napoli are likes cats and dogs.
"It would be the height of absurdity if he did something like that."
Giulio Donati’s agent revealed that his client is in talks with the Partenopei, but De Laurentiis wouldn’t be drawn on that.
“We’re working on various areas on the pitch, in a lot of directions. There’s this stupidity about contracts, we take 10 minutes to finalise a contract, even with image rights.
“We’re after Donati and 10 others, we need a right-back, maybe it’d be better to have someone who can play either side, then we need one or two midfielders.
“Then we’ll see whether or not we need a replacement for Higuain. Even without Higuain we came second [in 2013].”