Lavezzi: 2011 was the time to leave Napoli
Ezequiel Lavezzi has explained how he felt it was right to leave Napoli last year, revealing he spurned several opportunities to leave the Serie A side.
The Argentine joined Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month, ending his five-year association with the Naples-based outfit.
The 27-year-old has since intimated that he wanted to leave in 2011, claiming he could have left much earlier in his career.
"In recent transfer windows, it was not the right time to leave Napoli," Lavezzi said in an interview with Le Parisien.
"But in 2011 I realised that my cycle on the slopes of Vesuvius had concluded.
"I am 27 and if I had again [waited] to move, it would have been too late. For this reason, I decided that if an important offer arrived, I would accept."
Lavezzi had been linked with a move to England and Spain, but revealed that PSG's ambitious plans to establish themselves as a dominant European force drew him to France.
"I was seduced by this project and the opportunity to live in Paris," the forward added.
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"And then I ended my adventure at Napoli with a Coppa Italia triumph, so there was no better way to leave."
Nick Moore is a freelance journalist based on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He wrote his first FourFourTwo feature in 2001 about Gerard Houllier's cup-treble-winning Liverpool side, and has continued to ink his witty words for the mag ever since. Nick has produced FFT's 'Ask A Silly Question' interview for 16 years, once getting Peter Crouch to confess that he dreams about being a dwarf.