Agent denies claim about Lucca's brother

Napoli's Lorenzo Lucca and teammate Kevin De Bruyne had a dispute on the pitch that was caught on camera during the Champions League match they lost 4-1 to Porto. After the incident, a TikTok post by a person claiming to be Lucca's brother, named Giovanni, criticised De Bruyne's attitude and performance.

The player's agent, Giuseppe Riso, told the news agency Ansa that the post was fake. Riso said Lucca's brother had not made any statement on social media, that the account in question had no connection to his brother, and that his brother's name is Riccardo, not Giovanni.

The agent criticised people who publish news without checking the facts. According to Riso, such baseless posts only create controversy and damage the reputation of footballers.

As tension continued at Napoli, president Aurelio De Laurentiis took the whole squad to a training camp to prepare for tomorrow's match against Lazio. Meanwhile, head coach Max Allegri's press conference, planned for this afternoon, was cancelled ten minutes before it was due to start, while the media were already waiting.