Napoli won Serie A last season for the fourth time in their history and the second time in three seasons. The first two titles, in 1987 and 1990, came during the Diego Maradona era. In 2023, Luciano Spalletti won their first Scudetto in 33 years before Conte steered I Partenopei to last season’s triumph.
Conte’s side finished one point above Inter Milan, who lost successful boss Simone Inzaghi to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal earlier this month. Atalanta, who finished third, also saw long-term head coach Gian Piero Gasperini, the man who led them to Europa League glory two years ago, leave for Roma.
Traditional powerhouses Juventus are undergoing something of a restructure, while AC Milan will not compete in Europe next season. As their rivals stall, Napoli are looking to capitalise.
“Napoli is very stable. They plan before others so they have the money to convince a player like De Bruyne to embrace this new adventure,” explains Federico Mari, a Milan-based international football executive who specialises in transfer strategies, club acquisitions, MCO and cross-border strategy.
According to Transfermarkt, Napoli rank 30th on a list of the world’s most valuable clubs – below 15 Premier League sides and fifth among Italian clubs.
They went bankrupt in 2004, dropping into the third tier, and were acquired by De Laurentiis, who guided them back into Serie A by 2007. They have been European regulars since, winning the Coppa Italia three times and, finally, those long-awaited league titles.
“Napoli is a very well-run club,” says Mari. “For the De Laurentiis family, Napoli is their main family business and the past 10-15 years they have managed to do well both on the pitch, but also off the pitch.”
Mari highlights the sales of Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus for £75.3m, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (£59m) and Edinson Cavani (£55m) to Paris St-Germain. Napoli spent more than £70m on Victor Osimhen in 2020 but, after a year on loan at Galatasaray, he is expected to leave this summer.
“They were very good at finding this talent and putting them in a place to do well, to play in Europe,” adds Mari. “If you have this stability to grow your business, have a club where everybody is aligning, they have a clear goal, then it happens that in some time you are better off or richer than some clubs who are usually more powerful than you – AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus.”
