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Napoli have completed the signing of Dutch international midfielder Jonathan de Guzman from Spanish La Liga side Villareal, the Italian club announced.
De Guzman had spent his last two seasons on loan at English Premier League outfit Swansea, where he became a vital cog in the team machinery under former manager Michael Laudrup. He appeared in 71 games for the Swans over the last two seasons, scoring 9 goals. The club and De Guzman however felt they were on different paths following the departure of the Danish maestro halfway through last season.
The Feyenoord youth product will play for his fourth club in five years after making stops at Mallorca and Villareal as well between 2010 and 2012. He was also part of Louis van Gaal’s Dutch squad, which finished third in the recently concluded 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The 26-year old will be joined by his fellow ex-Swansea teammate Michu, who also took the same route to North Italy earlier this summer.
Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis took the social networking site, Twitter to welcome de Guzman to the club with a tweet that read “Welcome de Guzman.”
The Dutch international seemed happy to have finally sorted out his future. In a recent interview, he said: “This is truly a great club, otherwise they wouldn’t have players like Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon on their books,” de Guzman told Voetbal International.
“Plus they have Michu, who I played with at Swansea, and Dries Mertens was my teammate in Holland.
“I played against Napoli twice in the Europa League last season and they really impressed me. I think this can be a great change for me. I can get the opportunity to play in the Champions League and I hope the team qualifies.”
