Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis claims ‘when Carlo Ancelotti asked me for some players and I said ‘no’, he didn’t keep insisting like Antonio Conte’.
Ancelotti and Conte were both linked with replacing Maurizio Sarri in the Napoli hot-seat, but De Laurentiis revealed he was swayed by the ‘serenity’ of the former Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich boss.
Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis claims ‘when Carlo Ancelotti asked me for some players and I said ‘no’, he didn’t keep insisting like Antonio Conte’.
Ancelotti and Conte were both linked with replacing Maurizio Sarri in the Napoli hot-seat, but De Laurentiis revealed he was swayed by the ‘serenity’ of the former Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich boss.
“I hope he stays with us for another 10 years, but I always have to think about the good of the club,” he continued at the University of Naples Federico II.
“I’ll always act with objectivity and not allow myself to be taken by enthusiasm. Don’t worry, with Carlo we’ll do what we have to do.
“With Carlo, we’ve felt over the years that he’s a man who’s always given us a sense of serenity.
“When he asked me for some players and I said ‘no’, he didn’t keep insisting like Conte. He understood and did so with great tenderness.
“If he came here, it’s because he likes the club, city and current team. He’s not someone who’ll use Napoli as a stepping stone.
“I’ll never forget when Conte courted me for Koulibaly, going up to €58m with Chelsea. I told him, ‘what can I do with €58m?’
“Money is a means, not an end. The end is Koulibaly.”