Napoli fans are right to be furious with Aurelio De Laurentiis this summer after his baffling tactics let stars like Kalidou Koulibaly and Dries Mertens leave in an incredibly anonymous fashion, writes Apollo Heyes.
The Senegalese defender joined Chelsea in a €40m transfer earlier this week and Luciano Spalletti confirmed yesterday that the Belgian forward won’t be tied down to a new contract, meaning two fan favourites have left the shadow of the Vesuvius without as much as a wave.
Coming into this transfer window, it soon became clear that De Laurentiis wanted to cut Napoli’s wage bill significantly. The supporters had already begrudgingly accepted the departure of local hero Lorenzo Insigne but they were expecting new contracts for both Koulibaly and Mertens, reflecting their importance to both the club and the city as a whole
Both players were more than just players at Napoli, fully embracing the unique Neapolitan culture and immersing themselves in the city itself. Insigne said an emotional farewell to the fans at the end of last season, something the Napoli president essentially denied to Koulibaly and Mertens with his confusing and unexpected contract negotiation tactics.
The supporters are absolutely justified in their frustration, which was plainly visible during Spalletti’s speech yesterday, where he was heavily booed and heckled.
The team were justifiably in the title race for large parts of last season and the next step seemed to be a few improvements to try and finally close the gap to the Milanese clubs, but instead De Laurentiis’ work could see them even struggle to secure a top four finish.
TheirHere there are no bad tactics, here what there is is a stingy man with no vision beyond becoming rich at the expense of nothing. Since Lavezzi and Hamsik left, this man simply buys a cheap player to fill the position of an expensive one, crossing his fingers that this player is profitable and then selling him at a high price. But he doesn’t think about the growth of the club, Napoli simply has 11 good players, 1 regular coach and 3 semi-good substitutes. That team is capable of lasting half a season at the top and then we see once again how it declines and struggles to enter the Champions League, it’s the same story every year.
Go away ADL. We don’t want you anymore.
I understand your point and your frustration, but, unfortunately, maybe the financial reality is worse than you think. Maybe they need to free up funds first to refresh the squad. And maybe they can’t spend big any more. They got Koulibaly for about 6/7 million € from Genk, and sold him at a very healthy profit. That’s good business for a 31-year-old. Wait to see if De Laurentiis reinvests a chunk of that before making a final judgement. And good luck to you for the coming season!
Simple rewrite the foreign to homegrown rules in favor of Italians and this will all end.
FI sensors what u write against them and politicians which is the entire problem.
ADL treated Koulibaly, and especially Mertens, like dirt, when the two of them together had arguably been the heart and soul of the team for years. If they were to be let go, the club should have shown its appreciation with a public ceremony instead of this. I hope ADL sells the team to someone with a heart. Koulibaly, Mertens, and the fans deserved so much more.
ADL out.
Higuain was right.
Maybe they should ADL’s face on toilet paper instead
There are too many club owners in Serie A like De Laurentiis, buy the most garbage foreign players and think that’s the way to develop the clubs, no wonder we have missed two world cups in a row, De Laurentiis should stick to making rubbish films, Napoli deserve better and so does italy
Stop buying cheap forigners and play italian yout. Delaurentis leave now!
Does anyone know when the gewiss development will be completed
1 Sell to a richer owner
2 Build a new 50.000 seater stadium
Berlusconi has the right idea with Monza a mostly italian contingent. Hope they win seria A scudetto this year. All the others including Milan, inter and juve r worthless can’t even get out of group stage in UCL.
@Italian, Dennis, and Vincenzo Coppola…
You are each absolutely correct!!!
@Monty…
You could be correct, as well. If the financial situation at Napoli is as poor as you suggest, then ADL should consider signing Italian youth talent. Ther are plenty of Italian youth from whom to select and further develop at senior level.
Berlusconi is one of the few owners who still has and promotes an Italian identity toward developing il gioco calcio at senior level. Forza Monza!
I am a napoli fan from Holland and been watching the club for years since the rise from Serie B. I really feel ADL deserves more credit for the way he runs Napoli they are an example for clubs all over europe. The way the make their profits end good healthy policy they deserve fulle respect. Off course he could the players better but in the end most of them are just mercenaries….Koulibaly and mertens were top on human and quality level but the had a very large pay check and Napoli suffered from corona and missing out on CL under Gattusso…..They really need the CL to keep up with the clubs with larger budgets do not forget that rubentus has 2 times the budget Napoli has… even fiorentina and roma and lazio pay more salary