Napoli owner Aurelio de Laurentiis has made it clear that reported Newcastle United target Faouzi Ghoulam will not be leaving the Serie A giants, in quotes reported by Zazoom.
If Steve Bruce was wondering whether to bring a new left-back to St James’ Park, his mind might have been made up at about 9:00pm on Saturday night.
Jamal Lewis was poor in recent defeats to Chelsea and Manchester United and saw his defensive deficiencies exposed once again as Wolverhampton Wanderers fought back to claim a 1-1 draw on Tyneside.
Pedro Neto breezed past the former Norwich full-back to set up Ruben Neves’s equaliser, denying Newcastle a vital win in their battle against relegation.
Although if Bruce felt that Ghoulam was the ideal candidate to provide some much-needed competition on the left-hand side, it seems he is barking up the wrong tree.
“Faouzi is a top (player). I won’t sell him,” the straight-talking De Laurentiis quipped when asked about the future of his long-serving Algerian international.
What Ghoulam thinks about all this is anyone’s guess.
The 30-year-old is far from a regular in Gennaro Gattuso’s first XI these days, starting just five Serie A matches since the start of 2019/20 with Mario Rui firmly established as Napoli’s number one left-back.
Ghoulam, who played his best football under former Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez in Italy, earns £60,000-a-week – a princely sum that scuppered a summer switch to Wolves last year.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
