Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is demanding Roma drop their price for Kostas Manolas.

De Laurentiis says he is ready to buy the Greece defender - but for less than Roma's current price.

He said, “We've been working on Manolas since Albiol announced his desire to leave Naples. He has given us a lot, but is of a certain age. We could try to convince him to stay, but the truth is he'd be doing us a favour if he left.

"With Manolas, however, there are issues with his character. Sometimes he throws tantrums: we need our players to be very calm.

“Roma are another problem because they've changed their sporting direction. We're checking to see if we can sign him at a fair and reasonable price.

“Manolas is already at a certain age and can't be resold. He's fine by me, but we mustn't waste money: he has a big salary.

“When we demand fair and reasonable prices for our players, people say they're exaggerated.

“With all due respect for Manolas, he's worth far less than €36m. Some presidents want valuable players from me for half of what I paid for them.

“On the market there are those who are more capable and take more because there's despair on the other side.

“I'm not like that. I have two players in every position and we're not lacking anything. If we can improve then we will, but without putting ourselves into a mess."