Yesterday, we brought you the news that, despite rumors to the contrary, AC Milan had not made any offers for Napoli forward Marek Hamšík. However, Milan's cross-town rivals did put in a bid for the Slovakian. The response from Aurelio De Laurentiis to Inter Milan's offer is quite illuminating:

I told him [Massimo Moratti] that we were at the start of an era and asked him to not make any more offers for the player.

The statement could be read to say that the Napoli owner simply wants Inter to keep their grubby little hands away from Hamšík. Or it could be interpreted more broadly: this is a club looking not to simply make it out of the group stages of the Champions League, but to be a genuine competitor. To make a run at the scudetto. Despite the histrionics, ADL managed to put aside his issues and keep coach Walter Mazzarri at the club. There's a five year plan in place.

And that plan doesn't involve selling the likes of Hamšík. So hands off, all you dreamers. De Laurentiis plans to buy four Gokhan Inlers instead.