Napoli will not be signing any African players.
Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has come out clear that the club is not interested in signing African players unless they agree to abandon the African Cup of Nations tournament before joining the Serie A side.
De Laurentiis said in an interview that he admires African talents but the club is not in the market for them because they will never be available when needed most.
Aurelio added that it is ridiculous to pay salaries for players who will leave you struggling in the league and represent their countries in the middle of the season.
“I told them lads, don’t talk to me about Africans anymore!” he stated.
According to him the club will make signings if, and only if, the player accepts to put his commitment to the club as his first priority before the famous African Tournament.
Currently the Blues squad has two African players, Victor Osimhen from Nigeria and Cameroon midfielder Andre Zambo Anguissa after the departure of Senegalese skipper Kalidou Koulibaly who joined Chelsea this summer.
Both Anguissa and Koulibaly represented their countries as Osimhen missed out in the last tournament after suffering knee injury. During the previous AFCON edition, a number of African players were denied by their European clubs to represent their countries, Nigeria being one of the victims after Watford refused to release their star man, Emmanuel Dennis despite their effort to get the forward in time.
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