Lavezzi’s agent warned "I’ll chop your balls off" during transfer disagreement

Ezequiel Lavezzi had one part of a holy trinity at Napoli during one of their golden ages under Aurelio de Laurentiis' stewardship.

The controversial film producer has overseen a successful period in the club's history where they are now regulars in Europe whereas before they had struggled to even stay in Serie A. Nowadays, missing out on the Champions League is counted as a disappointment.

And there is no doubting De Laurentiis' impact, who has brought in players from across the world to make a side that nobody wants to face. One of those teams included an equally colourful character in the shape of Lavezzi.

After winning promotion to the top-tier, Napoli were splashing the cash and one signing in 2007 was the Argentine himself. After being given the No. 7 shirt and scoring goals for fun, it was not long before the Diego Maradona comparisons began.

But much like his compatriot, controversy would follow Lavezzi around the world while one summer saw the forward reportedly keen on leaving. Several clubs had become interested in signing the player, including Chelsea and Liverpool.

However, what became apparent was that De Laurentiis was not a man to mess around and a tricky negotiator – to say the least. The Neapolitan did not hold back when queried about Lavezzi's reported desire to leave. He said: "If [Alejandro] Mazzoni (Lavezzi's agent) starts being stupid then I will chop his balls off."

This was amid a summer that Lavezzi's lavish strike partners Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamsik were also being talked up as potential departures. This was not something that appeased De Laurentiis too much.

When asked by one persistent Italian media outlet about the rumour mill, he responded: "If my stars go then it will be a result of the continuous pushing from a medium from La Gazzetta dello Sport. Your question is one that just keeps breaking my balls."

In 2009, the transfer talk only amplified over Lavezzi, who had a disappointing season after scoring just seven goals as Napoli finished 12th in Serie A. There were reports of debauchery from the Argentine and De Laurentiis, one to hardly hold his tongue, lashed out in the media.

He said: "If you are an athlete then you don't use prostitutes and go drinking out late at night. I cannot do anything if someone always goes drinking at four in the morning and then uses hookers after."

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