Gonzalo Higuain’s agent says Aurelio De Laurentiis talking about the Napoli man’s release clause ‘makes it look like he wants to sell’.
The forward has been linked with the likes of Arsenal, but the Partenopei released a statement demanding that any suitors pay his €94m release clause.
“No club has asked me about Higuain, and I wonder why De Laurentiis keeps talking about the clause,” Nicolas Higuain, the Argentinian international’s brother and agent pondered on Radio Crc.
Gonzalo Higuain’s agent says Aurelio De Laurentiis talking about the Napoli man’s release clause ‘makes it look like he wants to sell’.
The forward has been linked with the likes of Arsenal, but the Partenopei released a statement demanding that any suitors pay his €94m release clause.
“No club has asked me about Higuain, and I wonder why De Laurentiis keeps talking about the clause,” Nicolas Higuain, the Argentinian international’s brother and agent pondered on Radio Crc.
“I was in Naples for nearly a month at the end of last season. At the end of the match against Lazio we had an unhappy moment, as supporters attacked [Mariano] Andujar’s car, luckily nothing serious happened.
“I think it was just anger in the heat of the moment, because Napoli were close to making the Champions League and then that vanished.
“We don’t consider this intentional, because as Argentines we’re used to it, and I repeat: it was not a serious event.
“The last time I saw De Laurentiis was at San Paolo after the Lazio match, having dinner with the team and former Coach [Rafa] Benitez.
“Only the President talks about Higuain’s clause, and it makes it look like he wants to sell. I think if Napoli want to fight for the Scudetto they shouldn’t let Higuain go.
“No team has asked me for Higuain, I don’t know if De Laurentiis has had any offers, because as I’ve said I haven’t heard from the President for a long time, but I think he’d have called me if there was something concrete.
“Maybe De Laurentiis’ strategy is to sell Higuain for a high price and use the proceeds to buy eight players, or maybe he talks about the clause being so high to discourage other clubs, because he wants to hold on to him [Higuain].
“Honestly, I don’t know what he’s thinking because I haven’t spoken to De Laurentiis. Obviously we know about the clause, because we signed the contract together, but only the Napoli President is speaking about it.
“I think if a club doesn’t want to sell a player, they shouldn't give a price, but just declare they they’re unsellable.”
The agent also admitted that Higuain had expected to be playing Champions League football when he moved to San Paolo.
“Higuain has a three-year contract, he came because he wanted to play in the Champions League with the Azzurri.
“Unfortunately against Lazio that dream was dashed, and now we expect Napoli to go on a recruitment drive to make it to the Champions League again.
“Higuain scored 30 goals for Napoli, I don’t think he was bad. I think if you want to aim for the Champions League, you need experience players.
“To achieve certain goals, you need certain important elements.
“We’re happy in Naples, he [Higuain] loves San Paolo, and the city too. At the moment, the chance of Higuain staying at Napoli is 100 per cent.
“He’s a Napoli player, he has a three-year contract, though I can’t say he’ll stay at Napoli for life as anything can happen in football.”