ADL on Albiol, Manolas and James

By Football Italia staff

President Aurelio De Laurentiis said Napoli owed an easy exit to Raul Albiol, but won’t be drawn on Kostas Manolas and James Rodriguez.

The patron had been quite insulting about Albiol, saying the defender would be “doing us a favour” by moving to Villarreal, but was more diplomatic this afternoon.

“We accepted Albiol’s transfer request because we owed it to him,” De Laurentiis told Radio Kiss Kiss.

“He had already asked to leave two years ago and we convinced him to remain. So I say thank you, farewell to your wife and splendid family, I am happy you are returning to your country.

“We can let him go because Vlad Chiriches, Nikola Maksimovic and Sebastiano Luperto have improved so much. However, if we need to take a few more steps, then we can do that and we’re considering which direction to go in.”

It’s widely reported there is a deal in place for Manolas, handing over Amadou Diawara and €20m to Roma.

Talks are also on-going for Real Madrid creative midfielder James Rodriguez, so De Laurentiis was asked about these two targets.

“We are playing on several fronts, because we want to understand what is best for Napoli. With the arrival of Antonio Conte at Inter and Maurizio Sarri for Juventus, plus Paulo Fonseca at Roma, we need to get deeper into what Carlo Ancelotti requires.

“Teams nowadays need more than one style of football, even if it’s as marvellous as the one Sarri had with us. He had difficulty at Chelsea because the players weren’t used to it, so at times he had to create a win even by turning against his style of play.”

Napoli launched the American version of their Amazon Store this week to sell the new kit.

“Along with my sons Luigi and Edo, we tried to think up innovative shirts and followed some trends in fashion. When you invent innovative things, people aren’t always ready to accept it.

“This time, our fans have evolved too and the Internet is helpful, as it connects you to the world. Now there aren’t just Napoli fans living in this region, but also in Canada and the USA.”

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