Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentiis and his idea for the national teams.

Napoli patron cites Neymar case, injured in national team

National team commitments have always been a matter of debate. Leaving one’s own champion in the hands of the CT è a risk for the club. It has been certified, once again, by the injury suffered by Neymar in the Brazil-Uruguay match that will cost the player on the Al-Hilal team's strength all season.

De Laurentiis, Napoli’s owner, has very clear ideas about how the relationship between the club, which pays players’ salaries, and the various national teams should be. The risks are too high; more power would be needed for the clubs to which the players belong.

"From 2013 to now we have collected – I think – 4.3 million in reimbursements as our players’ participation in national team matches, while always having more than 10 summoned players. This is not good: in my opinion, 32-year-olds should not play in the national team, but neither should 28-year-olds. And maybe they are also fake Italians. Today we have very strong footballers already at 18: but if we don’t play them, how do they become champions? And then the club should decide whether to accept the call-up, to be able to say no if è a friendly, for example. If I paid a player 50 million and he comes back injured, they should compensate the club for the cost, for as long as he stays out. Think now about Neymar…", his words reported by Gazzetta dello Sport.