De Laurentiis set to extend Insigne's contract, offer bonuses to other players

Aurelio De Laurentiis is currently somewhere in America, but he's coming home to Naples this weekend and apparently is doing so in a good mood. It certainly helps that Napoli have won three straight matches while he's been gone, but things must be feeling exceptionally good for Napoli's president based on reports of his plans for his return.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio, De Laurentiis has approved the framework for an extension of Lorenzo Insigne's contract, one that will keep him tied to the club through 2019. Insigne already signed a new deal through 2018 a year ago, but apparently ADL is not content with the five-year contract restriction that FIFA enforces, so he's arranged with Insigne's agent to do renewal negotiations on an annual basis to keep Naples' son in blue.

The idea is to provide Insigne the security of a continuous long-term deal, and to be able to constantly adjust for improvements in his performance and Napoli's economic status. It also helps to give Napoli incredible leverage in any transfer negotiations for Insigne that crop up, as having a full five-year deal in hand makes it easier for them to hold out for the highest possible offers rather than having to take the best at hand like teams do when a player's contract is running down.

Apparently De Laurentiis is also wanting to help insure a positive result against Inter Milan after the international break, and is prepared to offer incentive bonuses to his players tied specifically to that match. The extent of the bonuses is as of yet unknown, but it should hardly be shocking that De Laurentiis would take such a step considering that the breakup between he and Inter manager Walter Mazzarri was not exactly a clean one,. Especially with Mazzarri's job security apparently being more than a little tenuous right now, ADL will do whatever he feels he needs to in order to one-up his former employee.

With Napoli's season back on an upswing, for now, and ADL seemingly in a good mood, don't be surprised if we hear about other players getting extensions in the near future. As always, we'll keep you covered on any such news that breaks.