superteeded-Marino recounts Maradona’s move to Napoli

( superteeded )Former executive Pierpaolo Marino tells the story of when Diego Maradona moved from Barcelona to play for Napoli in 1984. superteeded

    “The Little Tiger” enjoyed great success and became a club legend, scoring 115 goals and providing 76 assists in 257 games for Napoli, helping them win two Serie A titles, as well as the UEFA Cup, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana once each.

    Speaking to Radio Serie A about the transfer, Marino said: “At that time I was the youngest director in Serie A and to celebrate Avelino’s survival I drafted a contract with Barcelona worth $100,000 to play a friendly if they brought Maradona.”

    “Just eight days before the game, the middleman who made the deal, Fifa agent Riccardo Fuiga, came to my office to say that Barcelona would come but Diego would not be there because he had a fight with the club. He said he would have to do something about the 40,000 spectators who would come to the game.”

    “Fuica said to me, ‘I should find a team in Italy to buy Maradona. The only clubs that could buy Maradona were Juventus, Sampdoria and Inter. I called all of them, but no one was interested. They all rejected me.’ Fuica was shocked. He said, ‘How is it possible? We offered Maradona and no clubs would take him?’

  superteeded   “Two or three nights before the game I had dinner with Antonio Giuliano, the director of Napoli, who told me they were looking for foreign players. I offered him a contract at first, he refused, but then he called me. The next morning we had a meeting and the rest is history.” ( superteeded )

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