Napoli owner Aurelio de Laurentiis is always a source of good entertainment during a transfer window, and this summer is no exception.
Chelsea bought Kalidou Koulibaly, the cornerstone of his team, and the Italian entrepreneur spoke on Radio Kiss Kiss in quotes picked up by the Evening Standard which explained explained in some detail the move for the defender.
“I let Koulibaly go because he told me he still has a few years of playing ahead of him,” De Laurentiis explained.
“I replied that he couldn’t go to Barcelona because Barcelona don’t have the money, they are in trouble.
“Then Chelsea came forward, to which we could not say no. With Koulibaly for about a month and a half I insisted, also offering him £5.5million net for five seasons, about £51m gross.
“But if a player wants to go for another experience, at a prestigious club like Chelsea, in a top league like the Premier League, one must also be grateful and cannot hide behind a no.”
It seems like once again Barcelona were challenging us for similar targets, but in this case we were able to get one over on the Catalans.
The fact that Napoli were willing to give their star a 5 year deal is very interesting, and it certainly implies that Chelsea haven’t made a mistake in giving him a long contract of their own.
The Neapolitans know him better than anyone, having employed him for 8 years – and if they were willing to offer him a multi year deal, it sounds good to us.
