Luigi Liguori, one of the youth players given a hugely-inflated transfer value as part of the Victor Osimhen deal between
Napoli and LOSC, confirms he has ‘never even been to Lille. We felt really angry, they ruined our careers.’
Repubblica newspaper tracked down Liguori, who is now playing in the Eccellenza amateur division, to ask just how realistic his transfer valuation was.
“I was on loan at Fermana in Serie C. In June, Napoli called and offered us two options: sign a one-year extension and stay or sign a three-year contract with Lille as part of the Osimhen transfer. What would you have done? We signed for Lille.
“However, I’ve never even been to Lille, we signed the contracts there and were left on loan in Italy. On July 1 this year, Lille sent a message that we should all go to France, but we didn’t want to, so we accepted the early termination.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t know what was going on at the time, it was only a few weeks later that we uncovered it all.”
Rather than be a boost to their careers, Liguori insists being involved in this financial game behind the scenes ruined their opportunities.
“I was valued at €4m in the transfer. This weighed heavily on my career and it really made me angry. We discovered it was not a transfer for us, it was all for someone else.
“I still keep in contact with the other two lads involved in the transfer and we say to each other, we had a three-year contract. Our careers were ‘ruined’ because of Napoli, because we didn’t know anything about it.”