Aurelio De Laurentiis: Mertens renewal depends on his wife

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis reveals that Dries Mertens wants to renew his contract, but the sticking point is his wife.

The 67-year-old also confirmed that Chelsea had offered €55m for Kalidou Koulibaly, but lack of an adequate replacement meant the bid was rejected.

"[Maurizio] Sarri? There’s no doubt, he’s in a multi-year contract with Napoli," the owner told BeIn Sports. "The the clause of €8m is only valid after next season and it does not seem a small amount to free him.

"Mertens? I think he wants to stay in Napoli: but then you need to ask his wife.

"If Dries finds a solution with her there’s no doubt he will stay here and we'll welcome him with open arms.

"As for  Koulibaly, Chelsea had offered €55m, but I told [Antonio] Conte that I could not give up him up without first having a worthy substitute."

Thoughts then moved to former Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain, who pointed his finger at the President after scoring for new club Juventus at the San Paolo in the Coppa Italia.

"You can think he justified himself in front of the fans by pointing his finger at me, but our supporters are not stupid.

"You cannot betray the team where you played and consecrated yourself in front of the world in order to go to the biggest enemy in Juventus.

"It’s a fall from grace and have nothing to do with him nor his brother: he has been shown to be small-minded."