Napoli Owner Aurelio De Laurentiis Rips 'Communist' Chelsea Boss Maurizio Sarri

Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has reopened his feud with Chelsea manager and old Partenopei boss Maurizio Sarri, calling his former employee a "communist" in the latest leg of their head-to-head.

Neil McLeman of the Mirror reported De Laurentiis was angered after learning the tactician had sounded out the agent of right-back Elseid Hysaj for an update on his contract situation. The Napoli figurehead spoke about his past with Sarri and how he felt his character has changed:

“I chose Sarri against everyone’s advice — he seemed like a mild man. He had a way of making himself adored, even by the most extreme fringes of the fanbase. He’s an individualist, someone who suffered in the lower leagues on pitches with no grass and the odd stone. 

"He’d also suffer because he tended to be fired after six games.

“I came to understand he was so dissatisfied with his past. For a Communist to base his profession on the evils of money brought him to suffer from a syndrome of dissatisfaction."

It was reported in the summer that Sarri was allowed to sign one player from the Stadio San Paolo, presumed to be Jorginho, who reunited with him at Chelsea following a £50 million move not long after his own switch.

Italian football writer David Amoyal recently reinforced the notion that, as long as Sarri was Chelsea manager, the west London club would struggle to sign players from Napoli:

De Laurentiis added his belief that Sarri is "highly strung" and said: "His wife couldn’t even come to the stadium. I used to say to Sarri, 'Who shall we buy?' He’d reply that he didn’t want to know anything about it.”

Sarri left Naples in May and was appointed at Chelsea in July following some mitigation, replacing Antonio Conte at the helm. De Laurentiis secured a major name as his replacement in former AC Milan and Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti.

Speculation over a move for Hysaj could be genuine after his agent, Mario Giuffredi, told Corriere dello Sport (h/t Sport Witness) earlier in December that Chelsea were interested and could make a move for the player in 2019.

It's widely known Sarri was a banker before he moved into football management and had an obscure entry into the industry, explored by Tifo Football in the summer:

The pair may have separated more than six months ago, but De Laurentiis' bad blood with Sarri doesn't appear likely to ease in the near future.