Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis admits they're close to signing PSV Eindhoven fullback Santiago Arias.

PSV chief Mark van Bommel admitted yesterday that Arias had permission to speak with Napoli.

“I think that we are now in the closing minutes. We are negotiating," film producer De Laurentiis told Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli.

“The strange thing is that we are currently negotiating with two players at the same time who play in the same role."

He continued: “The enthusiasm of fans is not determined just by Napoli, who have been playing in Europefor nine years and competing in the top positions.

“Everyone is improving, there is a great revolution in football. Serie A is becoming the most interesting League in Europe.

“It's not missing much before it overtakes the English League - at least in terms of interest, still not in terms of revenue."