A star under Maurizio Sarri at Napoli, Elseid Hysaj found life much tougher under Carlo Ancelotti, ending up on the bench more often than not.
Then came Gennaro Gattuso, who trusted the Albania international far more than his predecessor, even going as far as playing him at left-back in times of need.
That’s been the case for most of this season, and it seems his manager is glad to have him, which might not have been the case if Maurizio Sarri, once he left for Chelsea, had had his way.
This is according to the player’s agent, who spoke to Radio Kiss Kiss, relayed by Area Napoli, reminding everyone the Blues were prepared to spend heavily on his client.
He said: “I have a good relationship with Aurelio De Laurentiis. THere’s never been any problems. Napoli have, in the past, rejected €50m from Chelsea.”
The website point out Mario Giuffredi was referring to ‘the season of Maurizio Sarri in England’, as when he arrived at Stamford Bridge, he ‘openly wanted the ex-Empoli full-back’, but received a ‘dry no’ from the Napoli owner at the time.
Instead, the now jobless manager was gifted Gonzalo Higuaín on loan, Jorginho and Kepa Arrizabalaga (with Christian Pulisic arriving in January from a previous agreement).
