President De Laurentiis, who came to Rome to attend the ceremony where Napoli’s Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen received the “Best Foreign Athlete” award of 2022 from the Foreign Press Association, is here, after 33 years, as they were close to the league championship and the earthquake disaster in Turkey. answered the questions of the AA correspondent on many issues, from the transfer to the future of European football.
De Laurentiis, who was reminded that Napoli, which is 15 points ahead of its closest follower Inter in Serie A, which has 25 weeks behind, is the strongest candidate for the championship due to 13 weeks left, said: “After decades where Napoli did not become champion, this is for all Neapolitans. “It’s a big comeback, it means victory. Everyone is waiting for him. I believe several million Neapolitans will attend the championship celebrations.” said.
Asked whether Osimhen is the symbolic name of this championship with 19 goals scored in 22 games, De Laurentiis said, “Osimhen is an extraordinary player, but what makes Napoli extraordinary is that they are a team that overcomes everything. Under the management of an extraordinary coach like (Luciano) Spalletti, It’s a team of 27 players who give their all when they come out and know exactly how they should behave.” he said.
Reminding that the UEFA Champions League final will be played in Istanbul this season, and asked if they are hopeful about reaching the happy ending by reflecting their performance in Serie A to the “Giants League”, De Laurentiis said, “We hope so, why not.” gave the answer.
Do they plan to transfer from Turkey?
Reminding that they transferred Eljif Elmas and Kim Min-jae, who played in Fenerbahçe before in Turkey, and asked if there are players they are interested in from the next transfer season, the President of Napoli said, “Our Scouts are always at work, so we never say ‘never’. We hope there are others, but of course, it depends on what else you can produce from this land.” he said.
“We are always on the side of those who suffer”
Reminding that Turkey suffered a major earthquake a month ago and that Napoli players started an aid campaign under the leadership of Eljif Elmas, Aurelio De Laurentiis said, “We have always been in solidarity with everyone who has suffered. That’s why I think it’s important to join helping and help Turkey at such a serious moment.” It was right to support him.” used the phrases.
“The number of matches should be limited”
Asked for his thoughts and suggestions for the future of European football, President De Laurentiis, criticizing the current situation, said, “I believe that leagues should have more power and more autonomy compared to FIFA, UEFA and different local federations. Because football institutions cannot put any economic capacity on the field. they demand too much. So I’m not interested in going to the Champions League and earning 80-90-100 million. I think it’s offensive for me to win 10-15-20-30 million in the Europa League. I return it exactly to the one who made the Conference League, I really don’t care.” made his comment.
Aurelio De Laurentiis stated that his reasons for this were very clear: “We play a lot of matches. We wear out our players, who are the real assets of a club, and put them at risk. If these players stay away from their team for 1 or 2 years due to injury, who will pay us compensation? UEFA? Is it FIFA? Unlike FIFA, now it wants to invent the Club World championship. This is ridiculous. We play too many matches. It is necessary to limit the number of matches. At the same time, people will get tired of so many matches sooner or later, so they only want to watch important extraordinary matches. ” said.