Napoli Owner Aurelio De Laurentiis Weighing Up €560m Offer For Italian Club From Qatari Giants
By Max Cooper
Aurelio De Laurentiis is being forced to consider a €560m offer from the Al-Thani family to buy Napoli, as the Italian club are currently in a state of complete meltdown.
De Laurentiis is entrenched in a bitter war with his Napoli playing staff, who ignored his demands to remain at a training retreat with the Neapolitans in the midst of a poor run of form, subsequently causing a huge split between players, fans, coach and owner.
Napoli are struggling in Serie A this season, and with all the controversy surrounding the toxic atmosphere within the club, the Daily Mail reports that the famous film producer is considering a formal bid of €560million (£480m) from the Qatari family for Napoli.
Carlo Ancelotti and his players defied the orders of De Laurentiis last week, when their owner demanded that the squad should remain in 'ritiro' for the upcoming matches after the draw with RB Salzburg in the Champions League.
This is a regular occurrence in Italy when a side is out of form, with players and coaches not returning home to their families for a period of time, staying at the club's training ground to eat, sleep, and train together so as to avoid distractions from the outside world.
However, the team ignored De Laurentiis' requests, causing a severe backlash from the irate fanbase, who then vandalised the cars and broke into the homes of the players in extreme retaliation to the club's decline.
Some of Napoli's stars have subsequently been forced to hire bodyguards to protect themselves and their families from the barrage of abuse and threats that they have received.
It appears that relationships cannot be salvaged between the players and De Laurentiis, and it is likely that a whole host of the Blues' big names may leave if their owner decides not to sell the club.
De Laurentiis is also the owner of Serie C side Bari, and he would not be allowed to rule over both clubs if they were to achieve promotion to the top flight. It is reported that he is unlikely to sell Bari, meaning that the Partenopei may be the team he decides to leave behind.