Lorenzo Insigne believes Napoli have ‘Europe’s best defender’ in Kalidou Koulibaly as he admits he is ‘tired’ of finishing runners-up to Juventus.
Insigne gave a long interview to Radio Kiss Kiss ahead of the new season, where he also touched on James Rodriguez’s potential arrival at Napoli and Maurizio Sarri’s move to Juve once more.
“We’re happy that so many fans have followed us to Dimaro,” the forward told Radio Kiss Kiss.
“I feel the Coach’s confidence and I feel good. I want to have a better season than the last one.
“Koulibaly is Europe’s best defender. Manolas is just as great and he’ll help us concede as few goals as possible.
“Neither must we forget about the other excellent defenders we have, such as Chiriches and Maksimovic.
“I was really disappointed about the whistles, they hurt me. But the important thing is to work. I have to work and always try to do my best.
“I chose the No 24 for Napoli as a dedication to my wife. Maradona was the greatest of all. It’s not the shirt number that makes the player.
“The doors are open for all top players. We welcome all of them because we’re a great objective for players.
“James is a real No 10, he has quality and he’d do well with us. But choices are made by the Coach and the club.
“The club made the right decision to lower ticket prices. The fans have always been close to us, a little less last year, but we hope the stadium can be full in every game this season. We need the support of the Neapolitans.
“I’ll never stop being grateful to Zeman, he allowed me to reach these levels. With Benitez and Mazzarri I learned a lot, then with Sarri we all know how it went.
“We’re all disappointed that he went to Juventus, but it was his choice and we’ve moved on.
Ancelotti has been giving us so much too, he’s an internationally-renowned Coach and one of the best.
“Allan’s just won Copa America with Brazil. Zielinski is a top player for me, even if he doesn’t have that Neapolitan-ness about him yet, while Fabian has shown that he has so much quality.
“I admit I didn’t know him that well. I was very surprised to see him play. Clearly the Scudetto is everyone’s dream. In the past few years, we’ve come close and we’ve disappointed.
“I’m convinced that if we all play with this level of attachment, we can cause problems for anyone.
“The only promise I can make is that, like every year, we’ll fight to reach our objectives in every part of the next season.
“I’d say so [that we’re tired of second place]. We know we have a great competitor like Juve, but we also know that something could change with the new Coach.
“Sarri never had great starts with us, even though there are great champions at Juventus. Between us there’s a great desire to win the Scudetto, like there has been every year.
“We know we’re not playin alone, there are also other teams. I ask the fans and the whole club to stand by us.
“We elevate ourselves if all is well, but we break down immediately if someone speaks badly of us. It‘s important that we always stick together.”
