"Look at his results at PSG now" - Napoli president aims brutal dig at Luis Enrique for turning down Serie A club

Aurelio De Laurentiis recently claimed that he was lucky to not have appointed Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) boss Luis Enrique as Napoli's manager.

De Laurentiis was looking for a new coach this past summer following Luciano Spalletti's resignation. Enrique was one of the names in the frame to succeed the Italian after leaving Spain following the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

De Laurentiis recently revealed that he did reach out to the former Barcelona boss but the Spaniard turned down the chance to take over as the Serie A giants coach. He said (via transfer expert Fabrizio Romano):

“I can reveal that I called Luis Enrique in June but… luckily, Luis wanted to join Paris Saint-Germain — look at his results at PSG now!"

Enrique instead joined PSG on a two-year deal but has made a disappointing start to his tenure in charge at the Parc des Princes. The Parisians sit third in Ligue 1, with four wins and one draw in eight league games.

The reigning Ligue 1 champions were embarrassed by Newcastle United last week in the UEFA Champions League, suffering a 4-1 defeat. It was their heaviest group-stage defeat in 19 years.

Aurelio de Laurentiis instead appointed former Al-Nassr manager Rudi Garcia as Spalletti's replacement. However, there are doubts over his future as Napoli have started the season with four wins from eight games sitting fifth in Serie A.

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PSG boss Enrique hits out at the media's treatment of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele

Kylian Mbappe was a shell of his usual self against Newcastle.

Enrique slammed the media for their criticism of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele in the aftermath of the defeat to Newcastle. The Spaniard alluded to past suggestions that he was too reliant on Mbappe who bagged eight goals in nine games across competitions (via PSG Talk):

"I remember two weeks ago, or three, someone asked me, ‘Do you have Kylian addiction?' He had scored seven or eight goals, and the rest didn’t score. And now you’re asking me what he should do because he hasn’t scored in the last few games."

The Spaniard added:

“He’s not Superman when he scores eight goals, and he’s not a normal player when he doesn’t score. We need a little more normality. Everything is not black or white."

The Parisian coach then defended Dembele who has struggled to impress since his €50 million move from Barca in the summer. He's managed two assists in nine games across competitions:

“This data is not exact. Don’t you remember the decisive pass to Gonçalo Ramos against Marseille? Doesn’t that count? The problem you journalists have in any country is that your interest is focused on either a very positive or a very negative scenario."

The French duo were expected to forge a formidable partnership at the Parc des Princes but it's been a frustrating start to the season. Many argue that the side have regressed since the departures of Lionel Messi and Neymar.