‘Napoli were gifted €22m for Verdi!’

By Football Italia staff

Torino owner Urbano Cairo has suggested that he overpaid Napoli for Simone Verdi. “I gave them a €22m gift that I’ve never even given to my wife.”

Toro just about got a deal over the line to bring back Verdi last month, but Cairo admitted he made “a very wrong move” in starting negotiations with Napoli counterpart Aurelio De Laurentiis.

“We finished seventh and chose Verdi right away,” he told Tuttosport.

“I asked Napoli, through my friends Branchini and De Laurentiis, whom I called personally. It was a very wrong move on my part because if you contact a President in person, they make you pay more.

“So much so that [De Laurentiis] told me they couldn’t sell him until they found a replacement. We also considered some foreign options, but Verdi was our man.

“We took him in the last few minutes of the transfer window, making a major effort. In any case, I gave [Napoli] a €22m gift that I’ve never even given to my wife.”

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