Friday, 26th July, 2013
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has shattered the "monstrous-offer" bubble created by Marco Verratti’s agent, as the player continues to seek a move away from Paris Saint-Germain.
Verratti’s agent Donato Di Campli had previously revealed that Napoli were prepared to bid big to lure Verratti, who is also courted by Fiorentina.
The player is understood to be unhappy with PSG’s attitude, as Di Campli’s request to let him leave PSG was turned down yesterday in talks with director general Jean-Claude Blanc.
However, Napoli, who recently made a cool €64m from selling Edinson Cavani to PSG, are not prepared to let an agent dictate terms and falsify stories to sully their relationships.
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As has been common thus far, De Laurentiis took to Twitter to vent his anger, writing: "Through the media, agents are trying to put pressure on PSG to get prices to rise.
"Verratti is not for sale. Some media, sometimes, write and report news that is not verified with the source. We are friends with PSG and we will not succumb to this game."
As for their own purchases, De Laurentiis is content to let manager Rafael Benitez make the key decisions.
They have proven a hit so far with the arrivals of Pepe Reina, Gonzalo Higuain, Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon, and De Laurentiis is backing the former Liverpool boss to the hilt.
"We have to find the right players to avoid losing our heritage and that of the players in our team", he further wrote. "The player could be [FC Porto’s Jackson] Martinez or maybe many more.
"Benitez will decide. We have to analyse the strengths and the quality that is at Benitez’s disposal."
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