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It's April 1, but that headline is no joke.
If you've been paying any bit of attention to the goings-on around Napoli, you know that Aurelio De Laurentiis has been pushing for a completely revamped San Paolo, one owned by him, not by the city of Naples. It makes sense - the stadium hasn't undergone any renovations since 1990, at times there've been questions over whether it's safe enough to pass Uefa inspections, and apparently there's a problem with the toilets?
check out the giallorossi stadium plans
check out the giallorossi stadium plans
Juventus, of course, own their own stadium, which significantly increases their revenues. Last week, Roma unveiled plans for their new stadium. Naturally, Napoli, with one of the biggest fanbases in Italy, should look to do the same, keeping pace with the league's top teams.
ADL was set to meet with the mayor of Naples on Monday, but nothing concrete came of it. The mayor insists he's ready to finalize a deal, put pen to paper, perhaps even pick up a hammer himself - but it's DeLa that's holding up the process.
De Laurentiis, on the other hand, is sick of the mayor, which likely means he's not getting his way and is about to leave a meeting via a hitched ride on a motorbike. It seems the Napoli owner is so fed up with the stadium process that he's ready to up and move to England.
And this isn't just another threat to buy an additional club up north. No, ADL says he's not going to leave behind all the hard work he's done in building up Napoli. If it's on to Britain's emerald isles, Rafa Benítez is going with him - as is the entire team. Apparently, De Laurentiis plans to leave Napoli's youth system in place and let them get themselves relegated back down to the third division.
ADL is being ADL, of course. But this is still a terrifying thought. Imagine the English reacting to the traveling Napoli fanbase...
