Former Milan and Fiorentina legend and current Benfica president Rui Costa has revisited the sale of David Neres to Napoli. The Partenopei paid €28M for the speedster, who cracked Serie A’s record books thanks to three consecutive assists in his first three appearances off the bench.
The apical official spoke with BTV (via OneFootball).
“Despite his qualities and what he accomplished with us, he’s 27-year-old and wasn’t always a regular. He received some offers last year, and he wanted to go. We though it’d be better for him to stay at the time.”
Napoli had to best a few sides to onboard David Neres.
“There were more proposals for him this summer. When the Azzurri, which play in a league he liked, swooped in, we believed we could lean on players with different characteristics. We signed Kerem Akjturkoglu, who can play on both flanks, while he’s more comfortable on the right one. We accepted his departure since the sum was substantial and he wasn’t an unquestioned starter for Benfica.”
Our Take on Napoli and David Neres
He got off to a fast start, but the investment will be completely repaid only if he supplants Matteo Politano sooner rather than later. Despite not having the cups, the Partenopei decided to have adequate depth in every position, and they weren’t wrong in that. Still, only time will tell whether they were correct in splurging on players they won’t be able to re-sell for a profit in the future, which differs from their previous MO.
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |