NAPOLI’S old training ground is set to be revived after being abandoned for decades.
Centro Paradiso was once home to Diego Maradona but is now overgrown years on from its heyday.
However, Ballon d’Or winner Fabio Cannavaro is now set to revive the training base.
The former Italy captain has purchased the land the site is built on and has big plans for Paradiso.
“Now I can say it, the gates of the Centro Paradiso will open up again,” he told news agency Ansa.
“I had been trying for 15 years. The plan is to get the pitch back in shape, set up a soccer school and get the local kids playing football. It makes me very happy.”
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Cannavaro grew up in Naples and was a part of the club’s academy alongside his brother Paolo.
He went onto make 68 appearances for Napoli before spells with Parma, Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid during an illustrious career.
The former defender also captained his country to their fourth World Cup in 2006, before becoming the last defender to win the Ballon d’Or later that year.
His next target is to renovate Centro Paradiso, which was opened in 1975 and hosted the likes of Maradona during the 1980s.
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The Napoli icon won two league titles and the UEFA Cup during seven years with the club and a mural of him and daughter Dalma still dons the walls at the training ground.
Paradiso has been abandoned since the old Napoli went bankrupt in 2004, with Aurelio De Laurentiis forming a new club.
Partenopei have since risen back to the top of the Italian game and won Serie A for the first time since 1990 last season.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
