Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis said Lorenzo Insigne was right to join Toronto FC and cash in with MLS. ‘He might have 80 years ahead of him and has to take care of his future.’
The captain was only offered a new contract at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona if he took a significant pay cut, reportedly half the original salary, with some added bonuses.
Instead, he signed the biggest contract in the history of MLS to join Toronto FC as a free agent from June 30.
“He is a free man and therefore it is only right he makes the decisions that he finds to be correct to take care of his future,” De Laurentiis told Canale 21.
“It is a long life nowadays, with a bit of good luck and some healthy eating, if he’s got good genes, he could reach 110 years of age.
“So he might have 80 years ahead of him and has to think about that, it’s only right he tries to take care of his future.
“This is nothing to feel guilty about.”
It is widely believed De Laurentiis and Napoli were not particularly eager for Insigne to sign a new contract and were more than happy to see him walk away as a free agent.
Dries Mertens could be in a similar position come June 30, as his contract is also running down.
There is an option to extend for one more year, but again the club is not believed to be enthusiastic about activating it for their all-time top scorer.