Napoli claim Manchester City will not be pursuing Edinson Cavani because of his £54m asking price. President Aurelio de Laurentiis told reporters City were not prepared to meet a £54m buy-out clause for the highly-rated striker.

"Manchester City do not have money to pay for Cavani because they say we won't pay that," De Laurentiis said on Friday.

"Abu Dhabi (City's owners) say they would never pay 63m euros (£54m) for Cavani."

And De Laurentiis believes his departure is far from inevitable.

"With Edinson nothing has changed," he added. "Headlines I've read in the papers did not represent his words exactly.

"He could never deny the importance of a club like Real Madrid's, but don't forget that he made his name at Napoli.

"If a club like Anzhi (Makhachkala) enquire about him, maybe he says no, but other clubs like Bayern (Munich), Barcelona or Real Madrid could persuade him to leave.

"He knows that he has a contract and an obligation to us, and there is a buy-out clause.

"Cavani knows that at Napoli he is the most important player. I do not know whether, at Real Madrid or in other teams, he will be as important."