Brother: ADL called Higuain fat

By Football Italia staff

Gonzalo Higuain’s brother and agent claims Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis called the striker “fat” during his record-breaking, 36-goal season.

Nicolas Higuain was speaking to Tuttosport ahead of a trial that will take place on July 12, regarding a claim for a €2.5m payment from De Laurentiis, which the Juventus striker was owed.

“We’re not talking about a game of football, it’s more serious,” he told Tuttosport.

“We’re talking about a professional who had a precise contract, and his former employer, President De Laurentiis, didn’t respect it fully.

“My father’s been in football for 45 years, I have for 25. We’ve never made a complaint or experienced a situation like this.

“We’ve gone to court because De Laurentiis has disappeared. He hasn’t answered my calls since last summer.

“I called him several times to resolve the situation between us, but the best response I got was from [his aide] Chiavelli, who told me De Laurentiis didn’t want to be disturbed.

“When we signed for Napoli, he made a lot of promises… I advise any agent who brings their players to Napoli to put everything in writing and in the presence of lawyers when they make arrangements with De Laurentiis.

“We made the right choice: Juventus are one of the top five clubs in the world. But the happiest one of all is De Laurentiis, who pocketed €90m.

“He does so much cinema, he buys young players just to sell them. Ounas? I’d already advised him a year and a half ago.

“The good thing for Napoli is that they have two phenomena like Giuntoli and Sarri, whom Aurelio still criticises, like he did in Madrid...

“Agnelli? Our relationship is better. Andrea has another style, he and De Laurentiis are like water and vinegar.

“After the Champions League Final, he embraced all the lads. Aurelio can’t speak about the Champions League, he’s never made a Final.

“De Laurentiis would chatter so much. Once, he trotted out my mother and called Gonzalo fat because he didn’t score for three games in a season when he scored 36 goals, which was an Italian record.

“Will Higuain finish his European career at Juve? It’s a concrete possibility.

“He’s happy in Turin, he’s in love with the club, the city and the winning environment he finds himself in.

“We must thank Agnelli, Marotta and Paratici for having made this economic effort.”

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