Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis explains why he will no longer sign African footballers in explosive interview
Serie A club Napoli may not sign too many African footballers in the near future due to availability issues.
The Italian side's president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, explained the reasoning behind his stance in a recent interview on the Wall Street Italia program Smart Talk.
It's not like Napoli will no longer be signing any African players from now on, but De Laurentiis suggests that they will have to abide by certain conditions to play for the club. The 73-year-old insisted that they will have to prioritize the club over their respective nations and opt out of the Africa Cup of Nations.
In the streamed event, he said:
"I told them lads, don't talk to me about Africans anymore! I love them, but either they sign something confirming they'll back out of playing the Africa Cup of Nations, or otherwise between that tournament, the World Cup qualifiers in South America, these players are never available! We are the idiots who pay salaries only to send them all over the world playing for others."
Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has vowed to never again buy an African player ‘unless they sign an agreement backing out of the Africa Cup of Nations’ 😳 https://t.co/xIKxCFm4ob
During the 2021-22 campaign, the Partenopei were without two of their regular first-team starters, Kalidou Koulibaly and Andre Zambo Anguissa. Both were involved in AFCON games during January and early February, with former Napoli vice-captain Koulibaly captaining the Senegalese team to AFCON glory.
Although De Laurentiis' club remained unbeaten in those five games and were able to finish in third place in Serie A, he wasn't happy with the situation. Interestingly, before the 73-year-old went public with his stance, Partenopei had already made Zambo Anguissa's loan move permanent from Fulham.
At present, the Italian side have four African players on their roster, Victor Osimhen, Adam Ounas, Zambo Anguissa and Karim Zedadka. They sold Koulibaly to Chelsea last month in a move worth €38 million.
Napoli president says he is a 'pure entrepreneur'
De Laurentiis addressed various subjects concerning the club on the Smart Talk program, one of which was the bids he has received in recent times to sell the club. The Partenopei owner claimed that he snubbed a bid worth €900 million from American investors.
The Napoli president said:
"You [bidders] did not understand a thing [about me]. I am a pure entrepreneur who enjoys doing business ... let me play. I want to be the 12th player on the pitch. Actually the 12th player is the fan, I can be the 13th or even the 14th, as 14 is my favourite number."
Koulibaly on De Laurentiis AFCON comments: "The most important thing is to respect everyone. When I played there I also played for Senegal... You cannot speak of an African team like this. You need to have respect." Adds the Napoli fans don't think that way