In 2004, Aurelio De Laurentiis was having breakfast in Capri when he read in Il Mattino that Napoli had gone bankrupt and was going to be auctioned. In Italy he was known for being an important film producer, owner of the company Filmauro, a leader in Italian production and distribution, with hundreds of films shot behind him. He had the seventh art in his blood as the nephew of Dino De Laurentiis, one of the most famous producers of great stories such as La strada or The Nights of Cabiria by Federico Fellini. He didn’t even have a clue about football: what he liked, besides movies, was basketball.
But on that page of the Neapolitan newspaper, De Laurentiis saw a business opportunity. Napoli then, having forgotten its glorious period with Diego Armando Maradona, had hit rock bottom and had ended up relegated to Serie C, the third Italian division. He put 33 million on the table, invested another 180 million in the first two seasons and in three years promoted the team to the first national league. He had already recovered the money disbursed: in his first year back in Serie A, Napoli finished eighth and returned to UEFA after 14 seasons away from Europe. He had to wait until 2011 to return to the Champions League, the highest European category, but by then the boss of the Partenopean club had already become a main character in the city.
Last year, when Napoli was heading towards its third scudetto, his figure was among the most desired on the street of San Gregorio Armeno, home of the craftsmen of the nativity scene. If Naples’ first two national titles were those of Maradona, this one had his stamp, after having sold a large part of his squad, he managed to get players like Osimhen or Kvaratskhelia to lead the team to glory. During the title celebration he defined it as “the crowning of a 33-year wait.” “When I arrived I said that in ten years we would be in Europe, a promise fulfilled in advance; Then I said ten years for the scudetto and we won it early. Now we have to win it again and the Champions League is missing,” he promised.
Nothing could be further from the truth. A year after the miracle of Luciano Spalleti, De Laurentiis is the one most pointed out by fans as the culprit of the deep identity crisis that the club is experiencing, reflected in the replacement of the coach hours before receiving Barcelona in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League final. “The same person responsible for last year’s incredible success is to blame for this year’s disaster. He has an excessive ego and thinks that everyone around him can be replaced, except himself. He has only thought about monetizing, without pampering his players, and this is seen now,” says Danilo Iodice, a Neapolitan who does not miss a game.
Loved and hated in equal parts, his explosive character has never left anyone indifferent. During his twenty years at the head of the club he has been accused of acting alone and has been involved in notorious controversies with the ultras, which led him to have to resort to an escort due to threats. Even after the transfer of some pillars of the team on social networks, it became known as A16, the highway that connects Naples with Bari, another team that he bought a few years ago, inviting him to leave the Campanian capital to take refuge in Apulia. The in extremis change of Walter Mazzarri for Francesco Calzona, who makes his debut tonight, is the last risky operation of the solitary Naples skipper.
