There’s fresh news from Naples this morning, Reds! Goal have reported that Napoli club president Aurelio De Laurentiis has dismissed the possibility of Lorenzo Insigne leaving the club this summer.
That’s despite countless rumours linking the 27-year-old forward with both us and Manchester City.
“Insigne isn’t on the market,” De Laurentiis boldly claimed at a press conference.
“I’m not aware of any interest in Lorenzo. He’s an extraordinary and attractive player, very few of whom are like him.
“When someone’s attractive like him, it’s normal if there are seven, eight, nine, 10 teams interested. However, one thing is to want him and another is to put money on the table.
“We want to see the colour of someone’s money first. There’s no price for Insigne, otherwise, we would’ve put a release clause in his contract.
“He knows this is my home and his home. We think alike.”
Since Marek Hamšík ended his 12-year stay at the club to join Dalian Yifang in China, Insigne has taken the captain’s armband; but, the little Napoletano has come under fire from fans of late.
Under Carlo Ancelotti’s management, the Italian has still scored a respectable 13 goals and registered seven assists in 34 appearances across all competitions. This season, Ancelotti has regularly played Insigne alongside Dries Mertens in a 4-4-2 formation.
Ancelotti’s appointment at Napoli has been fairly well-received since he replaced Maurizio Sarri in May 2018, but the club have struggled recently. They currently sit second in Serie A on 57 points – 18 points behind leaders Juventus.
De Laurentiis calmly suggested of Ancelotti, that: “When he wants to extend his contract, there won’t be any problems” – his current deal runs out at the end of the 2020-21 campaign.
Napoli were drawn against Arsenal in the Europa League – after we dumped the Italian side out of the Champions League – and it remains to be seen whether Napoli’s fortunes in Europe will influence any player sales.
De Laurentiis may claim that Insigne is not for sale, but with fan criticism, one win in their last five league outings, and the fact we’ll be looking for attacking reinforcements in the summer, Insigne could be one to look out for in the transfer window.