April 2 – Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has warned that if he doesn’t get his way in negotiations over the acquisition and redevelopment of the club’s Stadio Sao Paolo he will take the players and his manager, Rafa Benitez, and buy a club in England.
De Laurentiis, a prominent Italian film producer, has long wanted to redevelop the stadium which last had renovation work done for the 1990 World Cup. His plan is buy the property from the local authority and completely revamp and modernise the stadium, including the removal of the running track.
Acquisition of the property will only take place once planning permission is granted, but that has not been forthcoming with the stumbling block believed to be the removal of the running track. De Laurentiis has offered to build an athletics stadium in another location in Naples.
De Laurentiis views the stadium redevelopment as the next part of his plan for Napoli and the frustration of not concluding the deal was clear at a press conference this week where he said if he left he would take the first team squad with him but leave the youth set-up to play on.
“I’m sick of it,” he said. “I’m a simple person who talks and tries to understand, but if on the other side, there are people who don’t listen, then I will take that on board and leave. If I do leave Napoli, then you can play in the third division and keep your mayor. Maybe he can even play for you, together with his councillors.
“I’m going to meet with the mayor to decide whether I should leave Naples and start over in England with [coach Rafael] Benitez and the players. Maybe I should just move to England and leave you with the youth team. I’m not going to leave the Napoli side I’ve built bit-by-bit in the hands of somebody else.”
The mayor of Naples, Luigi De Magistris, said an agreement was ready to be signed and that they had an agreement. Though it appears not to be the agreement De Laurentiis wants. De Magistris said he is sick of all the talking.
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