Napoli president and owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has admitted it is difficult for his side to compete financially with several other sides in Serie A including Inter.

“The Scudetto is up for grabs and the best side will win it but I believe that we cannot do any more than what we are already doing. Our budget is positive, thanks to careful management, because we cannot let ourselves go into the red,” he said in an interview in today’s paper edition of Gazzetta dello Sport.

“With Walter Mazzarri as manager we made it into the Champions League and we had an annual salary of €30 million. It is difficult to compete financially with Juventus and Inter or even AC Milan who are on the brink of the abyss.”

He was then asked what he fears most about Inter, who look set to battle it out with De Laurentiis’ Napoli and Juventus for the title this season.

“Antonio Conte, he is the most dangerous man at Inter. He knows how to keep his team on alert like only a few know how.”