Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has warned any clubs interested in star striker Edinson Cavani that they will be required to fork out a €100 million transfer fee in order to secure his services.
GettyImagesNapoli’s president is determined that Edinson Cavani will not follow Ezequiel Lavezzi out of the club
Cavani, 25, is one of Europe’s most sought after strikers after another stunning season for the Partenopei, in which he netted 33 goals in 47 games for the second successive caampaign.
Despite the Uruguay international’s position as a fan favourite, however, De Laurentiis claimed earlier this week that he would readily drop him should he demand a pay rise – leading to speculation that the player could be offloaded at the right price.
However, the Napoli chief has now made it clear that he has no desire to get rid of Cavani, unless an extortionate figure is offered.
“Cavani is not for sale, but we could let him go for €100m,” he told Sky Sport Italia. “This is not his actual value, but his value to me and he won’t leave for less.”
Meanwhile, De Laurentiis admitted that it is unlikely that Napoli will be able to convice Palermo and Italy left-back Federico Balzaretti to chose them instead of Paris Saint-Germain.
“There are two problems outside of Palermo,” De Laurentiis said. “First, his agent is never clear and sincere, but, above all, his child and his wife, who works in Paris.
“He was clear that he wants either Palermo or Paris Saint-Germain and I respect his reasoning. If he wants to come, we will welcome him with open arms. If he doesn’t, we will bring in a youngster. PSG cannot go around signing everyone.”
Should Balzaretti join PSG, he would be the fourth high profile player to leave Serie A for the Parc des Princes this summer, with AC Milan pair Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva, plus Napoli star Ezequiel Lavezzi, having already moved to the French capital.
