Reporter: Delaware once gave up investing in movies to acquire Naples, and now the team has become a Serie A giant

Naples will play Portugal Sports at home this Thursday. Journalist Fernando Urbano recalled the interview with Napoli chairman de Laurentis that year.

Urbano wrote: Whenever the Portuguese club faces Naples, I always think of a very interesting interview. It was 2008, and Napoli was preparing to play against Benfica in the UEFA Cup qualifiers. Like many club owners, DeLaurentis has a high opinion of himself and sits in the press room even if no one asks for it.

He likes to sit and talk to journalists, while journalists stand beside him, giving people a false sense of obedience. In fact, power belongs to the blue-eyed and white-bearded man who turns his chair and leans back when answering questions, with a kindness and a little bit of ego given by wealth and power.

I remember starting a conversation with De Laurentis at the garage of the São Paulo Stadium (now renamed Diego Armando Maradona Stadium), about Manuel de Oliveira. For one of the greatest filmmakers of the times, the Portuguese director’s name is more respectful than Ronaldo in 2008.

It was from that moment that DeLaurentis opened his heart to tell the story of Naples' reconstruction: "I was on vacation on Capri and was about to go to Los Angeles to shoot a $100 million movie After Tomorrow, starring Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law."

"That was when I read in the newspaper that Naples was sold by the court (2004). I finally gave up on the film, My life changed completely within a week. When I bought the club, the Serie C League had already been held for two rounds. The team was made up of loan players, and we didn’t even have equipment. "

"Our sports director had to rush to buy jerseys at a tobacco shop and print the logo for the game. Now we are back in Serie A, built a 1,800 square meter training center, and re-established the youth training system. "

Time proves that this project has just begun. Today, Naples has become the giant of Italian football, winning two championships in the past three seasons, coached by Spalletti and Conte, who are of different styles.

So, I have to be reserved for the radical ideas that De Laurentis had raised in that conversation 17 years ago: "I support a permanent league of the year, with teams coming from all countries with more than one million fans. 120 teams will compete in multiple group stages, with the Super Cup held in the last two months, and the winner will receive a billion euro prize. There will be between 300 million virtual audiences throughout the year, and 0.25 euros per game per person."