Aurelio De Laurentiis has openly expressed his desire to purchase the Maradona stadium, but is facing resistance from the city authorities. Meanwhile, architect Zavanella has confirmed that he will be revealing a redevelopment project to Napoli's president in the near future. Will this vision live to see realisation before the 2032 European Championships?

De Laurentiis wants stadium for ownership

During the conference at which SSC Napoli presented its new partnership with the Sorgesana brand, the president made his ambitions for the stadium clear. The main aim is to purchase Stadio Diego Armando Maradona from the city of Naples to enable its modernisation. The club president expressed the hope that the city authorities would not put obstacles in the way of this plan. Should problems arise, De Laurentiis suggested the possibility of building a new stadium elsewhere, without creating unnecessary controversy. It remains to be seen whether the president's words are worth believing, as his plans to build the facility have been controversial in the past.

De Laurentiis' key motivation is to prepare the stadium for the 2032 European Championships, which Italy will co-host with Turkey. The Napoli president insists that major modernisation work is required to properly prepare the venue for the event. Moreover, De Laurentiis also intends to build a new sports centre for the club, which would contribute to the development of Napoli's youth sector.

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City authorities did not get offer

Despite Aurelio De Laurentiis' enthusiasm and concrete plans, the Napoli authorities seem to be taking a cautious approach. The city's mayor, Gaetano Manfredi, in response to De Laurentiis' public declarations, said that so far he has not received any official offer for the sale of the stadium. During an interview with TGR, Manfredi indicated that the city is open to talks, but that it must first receive a proposal that complies with current regulations. Only then will it be possible to consider different scenarios and make the best decision for the city and the club. So concrete formal steps are needed to open the way for further negotiations, not mere words.

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Some details of modernisation plans

Gino Zavanella, the architect in charge of the stadium upgrade project, and Stadium of the Year 2018 juror for our website, gave an interview in which he revealed some details of the first phase of the design, which will be presented to Napoli's president in the coming week. In his words, the concept involves significant changes to the layout of the stands, which would be brought closer to the pitch. The introduction of these modifications is aimed at improving the atmosphere in the stadium, eliminating the athletics treadmill and making it more comfortable for fans to watch the game.

The architect stressed that Maradona's stadium, as it currently stands, requires significant upgrades to meet modern football standards. There are also plans to introduce special boxes for the media, which would be located directly next to the pitch. In addition, Zavanella hinted at the possibility of building a new car park.

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