AURELIO DE LAURENTIIS has written his fair share of incredible scripts as a hugely successful film director.
But even the drama surrounding his ownership of one of Italy’s most historic football clubs might even be a little far-fetched for the big screen.
Napoli were originally founded in 1926 but enjoyed their greatest years when Argentine legend Diego Maradona joined in 1984 for a world-record £6.9million thanks to a local politician securing a generous bank loan.
The maverick superstar spearheaded the club to their first two Serie A titles – in 1987 and then again in 1990.
But following his departure the following year and big spending, Napoli collapsed into financial disarray.
Relegations in 1998 and again in 2001 sent them into Serie B and, despite finishing 13th in 2004, were declared bankrupt with £46m in debts.
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A new Italian football rule allowed bankrupt clubs to reform in a lower league.
And that is when De Laurentiis, on holiday in Capri, decided to step in to save the club.
He won an auction in September 2004 to purchase Napoli for just shy of £30m, determined to keep a major football club in his family’s hometown of Naples despite not even knowing the rules of the game.
The club were plunged into the regional Serie C1 and forced to change their name for a year, with the Rome-born new owner opting for Napoli Soccer.
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De Laurentiis said at the time: “A new era is beginning, and I hope fans have the patience and the respect for this club that it requires.”
Roared on by 50,000-plus fans for every home game, they missed out on going up in 2004-05 but back-to-back promotions followed to get Napoli into Serie A by 2007.
And after a few mid-table finishes, the likes of Marek Hamsik, Edinson Cavani and Gonzalo Higuain helped power Napoli back into Europe.
They came second in four Serie A seasons between 2012-13 and 2018-19.
But last season, they ended their 33-year wait to be crowned champions of Italy with a simply staggering campaign led by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Kim Min-jae and Victor Osimhen as well as coach Luciano Spalletti.
And De Laurentiis has overseen the whole journey from the depths of Serie C1 all the way to Scudetto heroes – on top of a Champions League quarter-final.
When I bought Napoli… I didn’t know the rules of soccer
Aurelio De Laurentiis
Napoli are now worth a reported £484m, nearly 17 TIMES the amount the owner bought them for 19 years ago.
And the fiery, sometimes controversial, 74-year-old National Italian American Foundation director – whose own personal value stands at around £40m – told the Financial Times after the Serie A glory: “When I bought Napoli, for me, it was completely a new domain.
“But, for me, it was important to mix movies and sport, to furnish content for what was in the past TV, and now platforms.
“We were successful because I started to apply what I learned from the movie business in many years to the football world. I didn’t know the rules of soccer.
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“I was asked what is your goal this year because you have let go the most important players and signed unknown people.
“When I told them, my goal is to win the Scudetto, it seemed as if I was blaspheming. But we won.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
