Insigne hopes Napoli seal deal for Real Madrid outcast James Rodriguez

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The Serie A club's doors are open to quality players, according to the Italy international, who has encouraged the Colombian to join him in Naples

Lorenzo Insigne believes James Rodriguez would flourish at Napoli if he chooses to join the Serie A club.

As reported by Goal, Napoli are locked in a two-team race with Atletico Madrid to sign the Colombia playmaker, with the Serie A side needing to offload players in order to raise funds to sign the Real Madrid midfielder.

Indeed, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has already stated thatÂ Madrid's asking price isÂ beyond reasonable and that they are waiting for the Liga club to lower their demands.

Atletico, meanwhile, have denied being close to an agreement and Italy international Insigne remains hopeful James will consider a switch to Stadio San Paolo.

"The doors are open for strong players, we welcome them all," the Napoli captain told Radio Kiss Kiss.

"James Rodriguez is a true number 10, he has quality and together with us he would be great.

"Those choices, however, are up to the coach and the club."

Napoli have been quiet in the transfer market to date, acquiring onlyÂ centre-half Kostas Manolas from Roma and right-back Giovanni Di LorenzoÂ from Empoli since the end of last season.

But after two successive second-place finishes and with the defender Insigne views as the best in Europe, Kalidou Koulibaly, already on board, Carlo Ancelotti's men are continuing to aim high.

"The Scudetto is everyone's dream," Insigne said.

"In the past few years we have come close and we have been disappointed. I'm convinced that if we all play with this determination we can cause trouble for anyone.

"We know we have a great competitor like Juve in front of us, but things could change this season with the new coach [at Juve, former Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri].

"I think we are getting stronger, but we have to start off on the right foot because we have the potential to fight at the top."

The Serie A runners-up get their pre-season preparations underway with a fixture against third-tier sideÂ Feralpisalo on July 19.

They then faceÂ Cremonese on July 24 before a tougher test against Champions League winners Liverpool atÂ Murrayfield Stadium in Scotland on July 28.

2019-07-17 18:00:02

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