De Laurentiis: Napoli recieved €200m offer from PSG for Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen
Napoli allowed Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen to leave the club, but could have received more lucrative sums from their transfers.
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis revealed that Paris Saint-Germain offered more than €200m for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen last summer.
De Laurentiis added that, should he have sold the duo, the funds would have gone towards an attempt to lure now Arsenal forward Victor Gyokeres to the Serie A champions.
Kvaratskhelia ended up sealing a switch to PSG for a reported €70m fee in January, while Osimhen spent the 2024-25 season on loan with Turkish giants Galatasaray.
Osimhen then put pen to paper on a permanent deal with Galatasary last month, joining the club for €75m according to reports, though Napoli have strengthened themselves.
The likes of Sam Beukema, Noa Lang, Miguel Gutierrez, Lorenzo Lucca and Kevin De Bruyne have all joined Napoli this season as they aim to retain the Scudetto this season.
Antonio Conte's side have also been linked with Manchester United forwards Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund, having lost last year's top scorer Romelu Lukaku to injury.
Napoli kick-start their Scudetto defence away to Sassuolo this Saturday, with De Laurentiis lifting the lid on Kvaratskhelia and Osimhen's departure from the club.
"I had to let him [Kvara] go because his agent was threatening to use Article 17," ADL told 7 Corriere della Sera via Di Marzio.
"After the Georgian's extraordinary first season, we immediately moved to negotiate a contract extension, increasing his salary and offering him a significant sum.
"However, his agent, Mamuka Jugeli, had other plans for himself and the player.
"At the end of the second contractual year, there was the European Championship in Germany.
"I flew to Dusseldorf with Manna and Chiavelli to resolve the situation, but Mamuka kept stalling, claiming that Giuntoli had promised money that was never paid.
"It was a lie, easy to disprove. I could have sold him at that moment. PSG offered over 200m for the Kvara and Osimhen package.
De Laurentiis also revealed that he made an attempt to lure Gyokeres away from Sporting CP to Naples, before the Sweden international completed a move to Arsenal.
Gyokeres scored 68 goals in two seasons in the Primeira Liga – the most of any player in Europe's top 10 leagues since his move to Portugal from Coventry City in 2023.
He scored 39 goals in 2024-25, making him the leading scorer in Europe's top 10 leagues, with his tally eight more than next-best Kylian Mbappe.
"However, I had promised Conte I would keep him, and I didn’t feel like going back on my word. With those funds, the idea was to buy Gyokeres."
