Ahead of tonight’s Champions League second-leg tie at the San Paolo against Real Madrid, Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has been explaining to El Pais, the reason behind Gonzalo Higuain’s departure to Juventus last summer.
 

The patron, who is never short of a word or two, began by explaining that; “He [Higuaín] was an enormous success. At Real Madrid he didn’t show what he could do as he did at Napoli. But sometimes the media creates heroes at a club and sometimes these so-called heroes can’t handle the cultural weight and the identity factor. These are young lads and the media ruins them.”
 

When asked about last summer’s controversial switch to Turin, De Laurentiis stated that; “He had a release clause and if someone was interested and mad enough to pay it, I wasn’t going to say anything. But there are other players who accept being considered part of my family and who look on me as a father figure. Those that aren’t like that; it’s better to sell them every three years. He had one of his best seasons here but in his second we missed out on second place and the Champions League because he missed decisive penalties.”
 

Before the interview terminated, the movie mogul took one last swipe at his former striker by declaring that; “Higuaín’s brother always told me that he didn’t like playing with Callejón and that I should buy other players. But I never took any notice of him because I love Callejón. I’m not someone who can be blackmailed.”