De Laurentiis weighs reopening stadium talks with Naples council

Aurelio De Laurentiis is considering reopening talks with Naples council over the future of the stadium in Fuorigrotta, after a long silence between the two sides. Palazzo San Giacomo, the city hall, is said to be just as open to restarting contact, with the mayor himself reportedly in favour.

The scenario taking shape for next summer is a fresh auction of funds ready to invest in Italian football. In that window, De Laurentiis could face a genuine fork in the road: sell Napoli, or personally relaunch the stadium project himself. It would not be the first time he has faced that choice. A consortium led by the fund Underdog Global Partners already offered €2.1bn for the club after eight months of private talks, and De Laurentiis said no, even though his family reportedly wanted to accept.

Two issues remain that the president has already flagged as priorities in meetings over the Qualiano training-ground project: facilities that fall short of the standard a club with Napoli's European ambitions should have, and a youth academy that still needs building. Without progress on both fronts, any dialogue with the council stays a starting point rather than a plan.

Publicly, mayor Gaetano Manfredi has confirmed that a new stadium in the Q8 area remains an open possibility, though undecided, as part of Naples' bid to host matches at Euro 2032. In the same area, a basketball arena project tied to Matt Rizzetta, on the site of the former Mario Argento venue, has already reached the planning conference stage, a sign the city is moving on sports infrastructure, even if not yet on Napoli's stadium.

It is too early to call this a turning point. De Laurentiis has already turned down a huge offer once, with his family pushing him to accept, and weighing up talks is not the same as sitting down at a table. But the funds waiting only for Milan to finish before returning to Italian football mean time is a variable the president does not fully control. If the window really does open next summer, the choice between selling and relaunching will no longer be just a newspaper story.