The Japan Times - Bullish De Laurentiis keen to keep hold of Napoli stars

Nigeria striker Osimhen has been the subject of summer transfer talk after smashing in 31 goals in Napoli's first Scudetto-winning season in over three decades.

In an interview with AFP De Laurentiis, 74, said that he has received no offers for Osimhen, a player the film mogul has reportedly priced at 150 million euros ($165 million).

Last month he said Osimhen had already come to a verbal agreement to extend his current contract by two years until 2027, while Kvaratskhelia is reportedly set to more than double his annual salary of 1.2 million euros in a bid to stave off attention from Europe's richer clubs.

At Monday's launch of Napoli's new kit he told reporters Osimhen would be wearing it the coming season unless "a more than indecent offer came in".

"First of all Osimhen has two years left on his contract and Kvaratskhelia has four years. So you can keep talking about contract renewals and satisfying their agents' ravenous hunger, but in reality it's down to Napoli to decide what to do," De Laurentiis told AFP.

"I could decide to push forward, play on for two years and then let Osimhen go for nothing. It depends, but at that point I would have to find someone else at centre-forward, you can understand my point of view, right?

"But I believe that in the end it's to everyone's benefit to find fair, serious modifications that don't involve unrealistic demands."

De Laurentiis' bullish attitude towards his players' status flies in the face of the image of Italian clubs being easy meat for Premier League and state-backed clubs.

- 'Beautiful wives' -

Champions League semi-finalists AC Milan and Inter Milan have both lost key players to Saudi Arabian money this summer. Lazio owner Claudio Lotito on Monday said that Serbia midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic would also be on his way to the Gulf.

However he is aware that a barrier has been erected by state money and the whopping broadcast rights revenues generated by the Premier League, above which Napoli simply cannot reach.

"I would also like to have 10 beautiful wives but that just isn't possible," he joked.

It has been a summer of changes at Napoli, with Rudi Garcia replacing title-winning coach Luciano Spalletti -- who opted for a year's gardening leave after making history -- and sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli leaving for fierce rivals Juventus.

Star defender Kim Min-jae is set for a move to Bayern Munich which could net Napoli as much as 60 million euros, a hefty sum for a club which has remained competitive despite lower revenues than Europe's powerhouses and balancing its books since De Laurentiis took control in 2004.

And De Laurentiis says that despite the upheaval Napoli will again have a strong team come the opening match of their title defence at promoted Frosinone next month, even if another big name were to leave.

"Our goals haven't changed: We need to win, win, win and win as much as possible. But we'll see, there are so many variables, we don't know how the other clubs are going to strengthen their teams," said De Laurentiis.

K.Inoue--JT