Genoa President Lifts Lid on How Napoli Narrowly Missed Out on Securing Juve Stopper Mattia Perin
Genoa president, Enrico Preziosi has revealed Napoli could have secured the signature of goalkeeper Mattia Perin ahead of Juventus had they not left their approach until the last opportune moment.
Napoli had been strongly linked with Perin, 25, throughout the summer having developed a need to fill the position in between the sticks following Pepe Reina's move to Milan.
However, the Italian stopper eventually sealed a switch to Juventus in a deal worth in the region of €12m to act as deputy to new number one Wojciech Szczesny, following Gianluigi Buffon's departure.
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The details of how the deal came about were disclosed by Preziosi when speaking to Radio Marte, via Football Italia, as he voiced his disappointment in seeing the 25-year-old take a regular spot on the bench.
He said: “We pointed out that there was the possibility of Perin, but Napoli were after [Bernd] Leno.
“The Azzurri even made a bigger offer than Juventus did, but by then it was done with the Bianconeri. Maybe they realised a bit late, it’s a shame because I’m sorry to see him on the Juventus bench,” he added.
After missing out on Perin to Juventus and Leno to Arsenal, the Partenopei eventually found their man in the Gunners' David Ospina who signed on a season-long loan deal on transfer deadline day.
The 30-year-old missed the club's opening day victory over Lazio but went on to feature in Napoli's next two league games against Milan and Sampdoria, which resulted in a victory and a defeat respectively - where the club currently sit fifth in Serie A.
