‘Maradona rejected by Inter, Juventus and Sampdoria earlier than Napoli’
Pierpaolo Marino, the person who introduced Diego Armando Maradona to Napoli, reveals Juventus, Inter and Sampdoria all ‘turned down’ the possibility to signal El Pibe de Oro first.
The arrival of Maradona to Serie A in 1984 was an enormous occasion with hundreds of followers flocking to what was then the Stadio San Paolo, now renamed in his honour following
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He went on to win two Serie A titles with Napoli, the UEFA Cup, the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana, nevertheless it was virtually very completely different.
How Maradona got here to Napoli in 1984
HAMBURG, GERMANY – AUGUST 13: Freundschaftsspiel 1987, Hamburg; Hamburger SV – SSC Neapel; Thomas VON HEESEN/HSV, Diego MARADONA/Napoli (Picture by Bongarts/Getty Photographs)
“On the time, I used to be the youngest director in Serie A and to rejoice Avellino’s security, I drew up a contract with Barcelona value $100,000 to play a pleasant in the event that they introduced Maradona alongside,”
“Simply eight days earlier than the match, the middleman who labored on the deal – FIFA agent Riccardo Fuiga – arrived in my workplace to warn me Barcelona have been coming, however with out Diego, as a result of he’d had a row with the membership. He instructed me to determine one thing out for the 40,000 spectators coming.
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“So, Fuiga proposed that I attempt to get somebody within the Italian market to select up Maradona. The one golf equipment who might afford him have been Juventus, Sampdoria and Inter. I known as all three, however none of them accepted. All of them turned me down.
“Fuiga was shocked, he mentioned how is it doable we’re providing Maradona and may’t discover a membership?”
On the time, Maradona was 23 years previous and had made the transfer from Argentina to Barcelona solely two years earlier.
Napoli had by no means received the Serie A title, however Marino discovered a membership that knew the sheer variety of shirt gross sales and crowd attendances might repay this funding.
“A couple of nights earlier than, I had been at dinner with Antonio Juliano, the director of Napoli, who instructed me they have been on the lookout for a international participant. I known as him, initially he mentioned no, however 10 minutes later known as again.
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“The following morning, we organised a gathering. And the remaining is historical past.”
Maradona scored 115 objectives and supplied 76 assists in 257 aggressive appearances
His picture stays depicted on the partitions of the town and the stadium now holds his title with a statue within the tunnel main as much as the pitch.
