Napoli will only sell Lorenzo Insigne to Barcelona over ADL's dead body

Last week, Lorenzo Insigne was in the headlines because of words uttered by super-agent Mino Raiola, who tried to get the ball rolling on a transfer to Barcelona for the Naples-born superstar. Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is having none of that, though, and fired back at Raiola in a big — and hilarious — way.

Raiola can do what he wants, but he if he intends to bring Insigne to Barcelona, he’ll have to do it over my dead body.

Raiola is like an amusing cartoon character, he is very convincing and we get along well. I remember when he tried to take Marek Hamsik away and failed, in fact Hamsik is still with us 10 years later. Now he wants to take Insigne away, we’ll see if he manages it… I doubt it.

—Translated quote source: Football Italia

“Over my dead body” is strong language, but it’s understandable for ADL to be upset to that kind of degree over what Raiola was trying to orchestrate. That’s especially true because unlike what Raiola tried to intimate that he had already signed Insigne as a client, when in fact he had only signed Lorenzo’s little brother Roberto Insigne.

As many Napoli fans are well aware of, Raiola has tried for years to turn the head of Marek Hamsik, only to be left frustrated and beaten by Hamsik and De Laurentiis at every turn. In fact, De Laurentiis is one of the few major figures in football to consistently stand tall against Raiola, something that’s definitely earned the agent’s ire over the years.

That “amusing cartoon character” line will probably only serve to increase that ire, but it’s not like it matters very much. An angry Raiola is only going to shine more positive light on Napoli, while their fans have fun at his expense:

Seeing De Laurentiis standing up to Raiola once more is definitely a great thing for Napoli fans, and making such an emphatic statement on Insigne and his Napoli future is even better. As much flak as ADL catches from Napoli fans at times, he definitely has the best interests of the team at heart, even if his methods aren’t always in line with what fans expect.