Aurelio De Laurentiis Laughs Off Rumored €20 Million Lorenzo Insigne Offer From Arsenal

A few days ago, a rather amusing rumor started floating around that English Premier League side Arsenal were looking to make an offer in the neighborhood of €20 million for Lorenzo Insigne once the World Cup was over. Now Aurelio De Laurentiis has heard about it, and apparently finds the idea quite amusing.

During a press conference on Sunday that was about Napoli's stadium plans, the club's president was asked about the rumor, to which he said that he "smiled about that," and that "Lorenzo’s valuation is nearer sixty or seventy million euros."

It's a very high valuation for Insigne, with the upper end of that range coming in above the sale price of Edinson Cavani from just last summer. It makes sense for Napoli to hold out on a high fee for Insigne, though, as there are a number of logistical issues to account for beyond simple player value when considering selling the Naples-born striker.

There's been a whole bunch of concern over this rumor in the Napoli fanbase, but there's really no reason to be. While the deal as originally proposed might make sense for Arsenal, it makes none for either Napoli or Insigne to even consider. Unless both club and player get blown away by an offer, he's staying put.

The endgame of this scenario will probably see six weeks or so of annoying rumors play out to nothing, with a nice shiny new contract waiting for Insigne later this summer. He's come a long ways in the past couple of years, and hopefully he can have a successful World Cup run over the next month and use it as a springboard for bigger and better things.