Napoli banner attacks De Laurentiis and children Edoardo, Valentina

A new banner aimed at the De Laurentiis family appeared in Naples overnight between Friday and Saturday, the latest in a series that has grown longer by the week. This time the target is not only the president: his two children, Edoardo and Valentina, are in the firing line as well.

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It is a direct attack, and it confirms how deep the split has become between the organised fringes of the fanbase and the ownership.

The banner comes just days after social-media insults pushed De Laurentiis to close the comments on his own profiles, and after other banners appeared outside Naples too — in Salerno and Torre Annunziata — in response to the president's comments on the ultras world.

The stand-off began over banners at the stadium. De Laurentiis called for a crackdown and took the issue to the authorities: the Prefettura, the government office responsible for public order, agreed to his request and convened a technical meeting, and the president then went further, raising the matter with interior minister Piantedosi. That drew a harsh response from organised support, who hit back with chants, statements and, now, more banners.

The timing is not accidental. Napoli have made a difficult start to the season, ninth in the table with 7 points from 5 games, and the fanbase is already calling for a rebuild of the squad department by department. An atmosphere this poisoned, with banners now spreading beyond the city, risks weighing on people who have nothing to do with any of it: head coach Allegri and the players.

Napoli are back at the Maradona on 10 October against Frosinone, and with this climate still heated, the stadium will be more than a test for the team on the pitch.