Quote of the day

“So this Brazilian guy had a lot of trouble. So, in one second, we were in the mountains with the team and I said to my people, ‘Why don’t we call Real?’ We called, we wanted, and in 10 minutes it was done for €38m plus, plus. And they said, ‘now call Higuain’. We called the father and brother — they are his agents. So the day after, in Venice, we went in the airport for eight hours closed in a room and we did the deal. It was very easy. I didn’t know about the Gunners, Arsenal — nobody told me. I am sorry Arsenal!”

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, whose side face Arsenal in the Champions League tonight, explains how he managed to outfox the Gunners to sign Gonzalo Higuain.