ADL: 'Better Mertens than Higuain'

By Football Italia staff

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis admits Maurizio Sarri’s style is “spectacular, but risky” and prefers Dries Mertens to Gonzalo Higuain.

The first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie is on Wednesday at 19.45 GMT.

“Tomorrow will be a festival of football. This is a sport for everyone and that’s what we want to see,” De Laurentiis told Sky Sport Italia.

“Sarri’s football is spectacular, but can also be risky with some nasty surprises… At times our style of football can also lead us to get thumped, but we hope that it happens to the opposition instead.

“I chose Sarri and took on the responsibility of that pick even when some were protesting. Winning a trophy means nothing to me. It’s better to have some intellectually honest paladins like Sarri.

“He is not thinking of winning silverware to secure his job for next season, he just wants the team to play well. Neapolitans are represented in Europe and the world by beautiful football and that is the best reward we can have.

“Sarri is very cultured. You’ll never get anything banal out of him, even if he’s not talking about football. In him I see the indomitable lad who fought through a thousand difficulties to reach the role he deserves and now he’s clinging on tight.

“We accompany him in that philosophy by trying to win as much as possible.”

Napoli were expected to struggle after losing Higuain to rivals Juventus, but instead Mertens has become an unexpected hit as their False Nine.

“In terms of quantity, Higuain is better because he scored more, but in terms of quality, assists and altruism, I choose Mertens,” noted the President.

“He is far more generous than Pipita. He never gets grumpy at anyone else’s errors, only for his own.”

De Laurentiis was also asked about Diego Armando Maradona, the club legend who is in Madrid to cheer Napoli on tomorrow.

“I hope nothing has changed with his decision to work with FIFA, because he loves Napoli and is the best person to represent this club abroad.”

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