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Former Swansea City loan star Jonathan de Guzman has claimed he was punched by the director of Napoli during his time with the Italian club.

The attacking midfielder joined the Serie A side from Swansea after spending two fruitful seasons on loan in SA1, playing a key role in their Europa League run.

During that campaign Swansea faced Napoli, who de Guzman signed for in the summer of 2014 on a free transfer.

He played 36 times for the Neapolitans, and the Dutchman, who now plays for Eintracht Frankfurt, has shed light on what allegedly took place while he was a player there.

In March of 2015 he felt a bulge in his stomach and visited the club's medic, Alfonso De Nicola.

In an extraordinary interview with Dutch publication de Volkskrant, he said: "I was put on a diet, less carbohydrates, taking a rest. But the pain kept coming back. MRI scans and testing did not matter. (Manager Rafa) Benitez said: 'Go to another doctor'. But that was not allowed by the club, De Nicola had the power."

The medic, de Guzman claims, passed him fit.

"I am a player with a lot of walking ability. But if instead of more than 10 kilometres you can only walk six kilometres at half strength, yes, then a trainer does not want you," he added.

"They did not believe I had any trouble. I could walk, but not turn or shoot completely. They thought I made it up, that I appointed myself. That was said to me so often that I started to doubt the signals of my own body. It was sick."

Then under the management of Maurizio Sarri and director Cristiano Giuntoli, de Guzman entered into negotiations with Bournemouth and Sunderland over a move back to the Premier League.

"First I wanted to be fit. Giuntoli was really angry, went on the table. His assistant said, 'Listen if you do not draw, he gets really angry. If you do not draw you are dead in Napoli, you will not play anymore'. The whole day went on like this. Until Giuntoli had to leave to make other deals."

When the Canadian-born midfielder returned to Naples with no move agreed, he was confronted by his furious director.

"I was in the locker room and Giuntoli said, 'Hey, piece of ****, come here'. We went to the players' lounge. Giuntoli said: 'You would leave, you promised it'. I said 'I did not promise anything at all',"de Guzman alleged.

"He suddenly hit my face like that. Then I went crazy. We started fighting, chairs fell over. My team-mate Zuniga joined us, pulled us apart and said to me: take your things and go home."

He passed the doctor on the way out. "I said: 'what did you do? I'm not fit because of you!'

"The next day, the fitness coach told me I could only jog around the training ground.

He tried to call president Aurelio De Laurentiis, but there was no reply. He then called Edoardo De Laurentiis, the son of the president.

"I had a normal relationship with (him) that the year before. He said 'You're not going anywhere, you stay here, you're dead here'. Then I thought: now I am completely lost."

The Dutch international, who featured for the Netherlands at the 2014 World Cup, was eventually allowed to see another doctor. He flew to Denmark to see a specialist.

“It took 10 minutes!" de Guzman claimed.

"He needed 10 minutes to observe: sports hernia, operating."

But Napoli still refused the operation, de Guzman claims. Eventually, after he was loaned to Carpi some months later, he underwent the procedure on his hernia.

"The pain was gone quickly. But my body was so weak that I rolled over from one injury to another," he said.

"I returned to Napoli in 2016. Sarri said I could prove myself. He is a good coach, he’s proving that now at Chelsea.

"You know, at Napoli everything was top, the supporters, the facilities. Except for a few men. Football is business, business is tough, I understand that. But this was inhumane. "

The 31-year-old says he simply wants to put the period of his career behind him.

"It has been running as it has been. I want to end the black chapter Napoli with this interview," he said.

"I love this game ridiculously, otherwise you will not go to another continent on your twelfth and run a million rounds on an empty training ground when you're 28. I felt very bad about that."

"There are football players who are completely broken. From the outside, you can’t see what’s going on. A player who doesn’t play is no longer of interest to anyone. The clubs have their way of communicating. Now it’s my turn."

The Dutch site contacted Napoli for a chance to respond but they rejected the opportunity.

WalesOnline have also contacted the club for a response.