Napoli defiant over Liverpool and Newcastle targets

Rob McCarthy
Pepe Reina: Napoli stopper

Pepe Reina: Napoli stopper

Napoli have no intention of letting Pepe Reina and Faouzi Ghoulam leave this summer despite the pair only having 12 months left on their contracts.

Reina has been strongly linked with a return to the Premier League, with Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez keen to reunite with his stopper from his time in charge of Liverpool.

The 34-year-old is now expected to see out the remainder of his contract in Naples before leaving on a free, although the Serie A side admit they are already actively looking for his replacement, according to the report on sportskeeda.

“He [Reina] has another year on his contract and wants to stay with us, even up to expiration,” De Laurentiis told La Repubblica.

“I’ll talk to him soon though, with it being understood we’re looking around for the future.”

The same can be said for full-back Ghoulam, who has been attracting plenty of interest from Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.

De Laurentiis: “Will he [Ghoulam] stay? Of course, he has a contract, why should he leave? No starters will leave.

“We are very busy in the upcoming season.

De Laurentiis has also committed his own future to the club by insisting he has no plans to relinquish power of the club.

“The future? We’ re ranked 15th in Europe having been ranked 55th,” he added.

“Now the club is worth at least €1billion. I have no intention of selling though and my movie is far from the end credits.”