Aurelio De Laurentiis said Napoli are not for sale. The Napoli president also said that if he ever sold the club, he would prefer a buyer from Naples rather than an American.
De Laurentiis sets out his position
De Laurentiis said in his latest interview on Radio Kiss Kiss, via Sky Sport Italia, on Thursday: "Napoli are not for sale."
He also said: "The Arabs offered me €3.5 billion, but I didn’t want to retire. I still know how to make movies, and football, which I knew nothing about. I learned it despite countless difficulties."
De Laurentiis said: "For now, I haven’t decided to sell, but if I did, I would prefer to sell to someone from Naples rather than an American."
He added: "We all know who we’re dealing with on our own home turf. If someone from Naples wanted to take over from me in two, three, or five years, that would be fine. I have worked for 22 years for wonderful people."
What he said about Matt Rizzetta
De Laurentiis said: "About a year ago, I received a meeting request from Matt Rizzetta, whom I didn’t know. I replied out of courtesy. He introduced me to a couple of funds he represented that wanted to buy Napoli."
He said: "This happened between February and March last year. We put their lawyers in touch with ours. We wanted to assess the proposal, including who was behind it, though we never actually began a due diligence process."
De Laurentiis also said: "Money matters, but it comes last. Matt Rizzetta told me he had two or three funds behind him, but the €2 billion would have come in over the years, rather than all at once."
Football Italia reported that Matt Rizzetta is an Italian-American businessman and majority stakeholder in Napoli Basket.
Football Italia reported that Corriere dello Sport had reported De Laurentiis met Matt Rizzetta.
Details of the proposal
De Laurentiis said: "They wanted to pay part of the €2 billion upon signing and the rest over the following three years. Initially, I was told I would continue running the club, gradually scaling back my role until I eventually became honorary president. I asked for guarantees that the work we had done over 22 years of running the business would continue. I felt a duty to Napoli fans around the world."
Football Italia reported that in May De Laurentiis had confirmed Rizzetta was in talks to acquire a majority stake in Napoli a few months earlier.
De Laurentiis said: "The problem isn’t money. It’s whether a successor can lead with heart as well."
The recent meeting in Naples
De Laurentiis confirmed he had recently met Rizzetta, who had spent the last few days in Naples.
He said: "I’m happy to host him. He hosted me in America to watch a basketball game."
De Laurentiis also said: "When he brings up selling Napoli, I tell him not to get this soap opera going again. I want to build the stadium, and that will require a huge commitment, physically, too. He probably would have been happy with the Maradona. With a new stadium elsewhere, it would be wonderful to turn the Maradona site into a large park full of greenery."