Napoli President Says Club Rejected Man City's €50M Bid for Jorginho
Napoli chairman Aurelio di Laurentiis has admitted that the club have turned down a bid from Manchester City for in-demand midfielder Jorginho. The 26-year-old was reported to be on the verge of a switch to the Etihad earlier on in the week, but di Laurentiis seems to have quashed that rumor.
Pep Guardiola doesn't want too many new signings at Man City this summer, but Jorginho is believed to be one of the names at the top of his list. It was claimed that both City and Napoli had agreed upon a €50m deal including bonuses, but Aurelio has moved to deny the claims.
"I have turned down €45m plus €5m in bonuses from City for Jorginho," he said, according to Football Italia.
Ideally, de Laurentiis would like to keep hold of Jorginho this summer, but a move to the Premier League still seems likely. Though the midfielder may depart, di Laurentiis claims that the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti will be key to Napoli's improvement - and the transfer market will have a hand in that.
"Carlo is the key to the internationalization of Napoli. He wants to keep 80 per cent of the current squad, he considers it to be of a great level.
"Our targets are a goalkeeper, a fullback, a central midfielder and a winger.
"From 10-31 July Carlo will be able to assess the squad and make some decisions. Then, on 4 August we are in Dublin to play Liverpool and we will see his first Napoli team."
Napoli came close to pulling Juventus from the top of the Serie A pile last season, but eventually failed. This coming term, Ancelotti will be hoping to do one better and take the Scudetto from the Turing outfit.
