Aurelio De Laurentiis admits Napoli “don’t have the history of Juventus” but “give me €100m more in revenue and we’d win too”.
The Partenopei have run the Bianconeri close in recent seasons, but the Turin giants have won the Scudetto for five years in a row.
Coach Maurizio Sarri described the Old Lady as being “on a different planet” and the patron discussed those words in a Press conference alongside Sarri.
Aurelio De Laurentiis admits Napoli “don’t have the history of Juventus” but “give me €100m more in revenue and we’d win too”.
The Partenopei have run the Bianconeri close in recent seasons, but the Turin giants have won the Scudetto for five years in a row.
Coach Maurizio Sarri described the Old Lady as being “on a different planet” and the patron discussed those words in a Press conference alongside Sarri.
“The words of Sarri have to be put in their proper context,” De Laurentiis warned.
“Juventus has belonged to the Agnelli family for decades, Juve have Maserati, Fiat, Ferrari and a century of history behind them.
"We didn’t inherit Napoli, I humbly took Napoli Soccer to start again from Serie C. I took a newborn child by the hand, and now seven years later we’re in Europe.
"Now everyone talks about Napoli and the team of [Diego] Maradona as if there's some sort of connection between them. There's no link between the two.
“We don’t have the history of Juventus, but the image of Napoli is strong because Neapolitans are the true protagonists in Italy.
"In football terms we have two Scudetti and the best player of all time [Maradona], without [former President Carrado] Ferlaino what would we be talking about now?
“The culture is to always talk about the Scudetto, we hope to win but if you win one and then do nothing for 10 years what changes?
“Give me €100m more in revenue and see if we don’t win too…”
De Laurentiis was also asked about Gonzalo Higuain, who moved to Juve in a €90m deal this summer.
"I wanted him, and when I took him no-one knew about it. Rafa Benitez wanted [Leandro] Damiao, and I told him Damiao's agent wasn't nice to me and immediately moved on to Higuain.
"Higuain had scored a lot of goals in Madrid, but he wasn't a star yet. When I chose Sarri he was very clever, as Tuscans are, to make Pipita the focus of the play.
"It's not nice though to see some gesutres from players when they don't get the ball, it's a team game.
"I offered Higuain a more lucrative contract than the one Juve gave him, I agreed the renewal with his family and then in March his brother told me that Higuain didn't want to play at Napoli because there were no top players.
"I realised that we're different and divorces happen. We've been together with [Marek] Hamsik for 10 years.
"I'll never forget when [former Inter President Massimo] Moratti called me to ask for Hamsik. I told him he wasn't for sale and he said 'OK, I'll never ask again'."