Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis has defended their decision to pass on Barcelona winger Gerard Deulofeu last month.

Napoli, admits ADL, did consider Deulofeu before he moved to Watford on-loan to the end of the season.

The movie mogul explained: "Deulofeu? With Maurizio Sarri, we organized a mercato meeting where he told me that, for him, Deulofeu did not have the characteristics to be useful to the team.

"Period."

De Laurentiis' comments arrive after Napoli were rejected by Bologna winger Simone Verdi last week.