Napoli President Tells Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea to Pay £80m for Gonzalo Higuain

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has said Arsenal and Liverpool will have to meet Gonzalo Higuain's £80m release clause if they want to add the star striker to their roster in the ongoing transfer window.

The Argentinean international, who has also been linked with a move to Chelsea, was believed to have a £55m release clause in his contract. Managers of all three Premier League giants are actively browsing for a top striker before the season begins.

Despite signing versatile forward Alexis Sanchez, Arsene Wenger is looking to bring in a suitable cover for Olivier Giroud. Reds boss Brendan Rodgers wants a proven goal-scorer to replace Barcelona bound Luis Suarez, while Chelsea's Jose Mourinho was thought to be keen on being reunited with the former Real Madrid hit-man.

But De Laurentiis has slammed the door on all potential suitors and has poured cold water on the possibility of Higuain leaving the San Paolo stadium this summer.

"Some of you wrote that I should've written a €70m (£55m) release clause into his contract. Well, I can tell you that last year when I signed Higuain's contract there was a €100m (£80m) release clause," the Express quoted De Laurentiis as saying.

"As you can see, the media are always misinformed. They dive into these stories and hypothesise, but do you really think that after 10 years running a club, someone who comes from cinema and produced more than 400 films doesn't know how to write a player's contract?"

"Do you believe I am someone who doesn't know how to negotiate a good deal? I really like Higuain, he is an exceptional person and very well-mannered. So as long as our rapport continues to work, I see no problems," the 65-year-old concluded.

Higuain moved to Rafael Bentiez's side last summer and still has four-years remaining in his contract. The 26-year-old was also linked with a move to Barcelona, where his compatriots, Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano are plying their trade.

However, he denied his intentions of leaving the Serie A by saying, "I have a contract with Napoli that makes me very happy. The Partenopei club (Napoli) has always treated me very well since I arrived."

The River Plate academy product is currently on World Cup duty in Brazil and scored the solitary goal for Alejandro Sabella's side in the quarterfinal against Belgium. The Albiceleste now face Germany in the final at the Estadio Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, on Sunday.