Aurelio De Laurentiis is confident Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen will remain at Napoli for a long time, although ‘sometimes there are offers you can’t reject.’
The Partenopei boss spoke to TNT Sports Mexico following a 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday.
“I had predicted we would have a great season. When you have the same players for a long time, they tend t lose motivation,” he said.
“These new players have proved to be reliable. The thing that I like is that this side goes beyond single players. We’ve been in Europe for 14 years and I think we are the only one in Italy and it was nice to find players like Edinson Cavani, Ezequiel Lavezzi, and Gonzalo Higuain. The fact that we now have Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia, Kim and other players in midfield makes means this team will last in time.”
Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen have attracted interest from some of the best clubs in Europe, are they both destined to leave in the summer?
“I am very good at making contracts, so when they come to me, they are blocked, so keeping them here won’t be difficult. However, never say never. Sometimes there are offers you can’t refuse, so you never know. To me, we’ll see them shine for a long time.”
Hirving Lozano was the best player on the pitch against Eintracht on Tuesday, does ADL see the Mexico international stay at Napoli for a long time?
“I like Lozano, he gets regular playing time and is an excellent player. He has changed agents lately, so we must meet them to discuss his future. I hope he will stay for a long time. He is an extraordinary player who can be very useful to those scoring goals; sometimes he also scores.”
Napoli are currently 15 points above second-placed Inter in Serie A and fans dream of the first Scudetto since the Maradona era over 30 years ago.
“It’s very important for Napeolitans. Unfortunately, Diego Maradona has died, but he left a legacy that this team is following and this is very nice, hopefully, we’ll be able to give Napeolitans what they’ve been waiting for for many years,” said the Partenopei President.
Napoli were not among the clubs invited to the Super League in the original project launched almost two years ago. What does he make of a potential new European competition?
“It’s a fool thing. You can’t think of a competition only for a few clubs. Clearly, UEFA’s formula is out of date, so it must be changed we should sit down with UEFA trying to understand how to bring €10b or dollars on the table.
“Here, the problem is that there’s not enough money, we play too much, players belong to clubs, and there is a risk of injuries which nobody pays for,” he continued.
“To me, fans are not being considered and I’d like to tell UEFA that without fans, football dies. Fans follow the national leagues, Then, there are also European competitions, but let’s make a unique international competition that can bring €10b to the table. Perhaps, UEFA should let European leagues do the work and just be there to do secretary work.