Napoli captain Giovanni di Lorenzo has ended speculation about his future this summer by confirming that he is staying at the Maradona Stadium, dealing a significant blow to Juventus.

The Bianconeri had expressed their interest in signing the defender after he had asked Napoli to sell him during this transfer window.

His agent was working on facilitating his departure, and Juve waited patiently for Napoli to agree to the sale.

However, Napoli manager Antonio Conte blocked the transfer, insisting he did not want to lose any key players.

Di Lorenzo had been pushing to leave, but he eventually agreed to stay for another season and has now confirmed his decision to remain in Naples.

While discussing his decision, he explained why he chose to stay at Napoli for one more campaign.

The Italy international said, as quoted by Tuttomercatoweb:

“After the season I spoke to everyone, the president, the director, the coach. I took my time to decide. My desire is to stay, I do it with the utmost desire and enthusiasm”.

Juve FC Says

Di Lorenzo is one of the finest defenders and would have been a fine addition to our team, but we have to move on and sign someone else for that role.