Maguire’s transfer from the Foxes to Old Trafford earlier in the week, made him the most expensive defender in the history of football, eclipsing the £75m Liverpool paid Southampton to price Virgil van Dijk from the Saint Mary’s Stadium in January 2018.
Before Manchester United turned their attention towards Maguire, they had courted Napoli’s Senegalese defender, Kalidou Koulibaly, for quite some time but De Laurentiis refused to be bullied into selling a player many consider to be one of the best centre backs in the game.
De Laurentiis has opined that Manchester United have overpaid for the 26-year-old England international, valuing the former Hull City player at €25m.
De Laurentiis added that Premier League clubs are usually priced out of moves for their intended targets as a result of their healthy financial status and values Koulibaly thrice the value of what United paid for Maguire.
Discussing the transfer market and Maguire's move to Old Trafford, De Laurentiis told ESPN: "The problem of the cost of players is from England because they gross the most amount of money, more than Spain, Italy, France and Germany.
"If a club grosses £800m, he has no problem to offer £80-90m for one player. There is not a real and fair competition between England and other countries."
"Koulibaly has a release clause of €150m," De Laurentiis added.
"In England, you know, they can spend €93m on a player that I would pay a maximum of €25-30m for. So, if Maguire costs €93m, then Koulibaly is worth €250m?"
