Napoli were successful in completing Victor Osimhen’s signing from Lille on July 31st.
The Serie A club were made to wait after the striker changed agents this summer.
Reports in July suggested the Nigerian’s new representative, William D’Avila, tried to take him to the Premier League, with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur cited as the two potential destinations.
It was then suggested the Reds and Spurs were dragged into the mix to put pressure on the Naples club to offer better wages and commission to the player and agent.
However, that suggestion has been dismissed by the 21-year-old’s Italian representative, Roberto Calenda, who stressed there was genuine interest from the two clubs.
“Then came Napoli who followed the player for a long time. Did the director of football take responsibility for the operation? All I know is that Napoli have been strong on the boy from the start, the negotiations started in January, for many months.
“Osimhen was an obsession of Giuntoli, Napoli and their President. Napoli did everything to get him: the negotiation was exhausting. I can say that it was a well-conducted negotiation by the parties, which began long ago.
“[It was a] difficult operation, Tottenham and Liverpool wanted Osimhen until the end, even Barcelona initially wanted him to replace Suarez. But Napoli did everything, they wanted him and took him.”
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis told Gazzetta dello Sport in July that his side paid a club-record fee of €70m plus €10m in bonuses to acquire Osimhen’s services.
