Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has reminded Lorenzo Insigne of what it takes to be a ‘true captain’. “He doesn’t only wear the armband…”
Insigne seems set to stay at Napoli this summer after holding crisis talks with the club and his agent Mino Raiola, and De Laurentiis urged the forward to show desire in his role as skipper.
“Insigne doesn’t need to wait for a meeting with me or even a renewal, which will be at most an extension,” he told Corriere dello Sport.
Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has reminded Lorenzo Insigne of what it takes to be a ‘true captain’. “He doesn’t only wear the armband…”
Insigne seems set to stay at Napoli this summer after holding crisis talks with the club and his agent Mino Raiola, and De Laurentiis urged the forward to show desire in his role as skipper.
“Insigne doesn’t need to wait for a meeting with me or even a renewal, which will be at most an extension,” he told Corriere dello Sport.
“If he wants to stay with us for the rest of his career then he should tell us and we’ll have talks on how to keep him here and make him even more of an icon for Napoli, even if his Neapolitan-ness can already be seen.
“He’s Neapolitan, so as a Neapolitan he has all the credentials to be captain. But these are things that you need to want and implement by taking charge of the locker room.
“A true captain doesn’t only wear the armband or hold the pennant before a game. He also knows how to talk to the team and convince them into reaching certain objectives.”
The movie mogul then gave his assessment of the Partenopei’s campaign, with another season of Champions League football secured.
“I’m very satisfied,” he continued.
“We must never forget Ronaldo was an unimaginable addition and that Juventus had coaching continuity, while we changed as if we’d started all over again.
“We’re 10 points in front of Inter, 14 of Milan and 15 of Roma and the Milan clubs have spent much more than Napoli.
“I give Ancelotti an eight because he arrived in a situation that he didn’t know before and returned to a completely-different type of Italian football, so kudos to him.”
Finally, De Laurentiis was asked about Napoli’s plans for the summer transfer window.
“We have so many names on our shortlist, but it’s more important to take care of those leaving the club because last season we had to accommodate important players at Parma and other clubs.
“We can’t buy more players to send them elsewhere.”