Rizzetta's Napoli bid has a price but no answer on whose money it is

The figures have been debated for days. The question nobody seems to ask is who stands behind Underdog Global Partners, a fund about thirteen months old.

by Rosaria CimminoTuesday 27 October, 17:13 CET· 3 hours ago

Rizzetta, 2,2 miliardi e un fondo di tredici mesi: la domanda che manca è da dove arrivano i soldi — Grafica Arena Napoli

Everyone knows the numbers attached to Matt Rizzetta and Napoli. There is the €2.2bn offer now being discussed, the €2.25-2.26bn that was negotiated earlier, and the revised proposal of €1.3bn. Nobody has said who would actually put up that money. That is the missing question, and it matters more than any debate over timing or how the payments would be made.

Here is what is known about him. He is Italian-American and grew up in New York State. He studied communications at Iona University, then worked in marketing at Sony. Later came a holding company he calls a family office, although the family in question is his own.

In 2025 he set up Underdog Global Partners, the fund behind the bid for Napoli. It is about thirteen months old. A vehicle barely a year old is going after one of the biggest clubs in Italy, in the year the club turns 100.

That is the gap. The price is public. The source of the money is not. Two names, Ariel Investment and Apollo Sports Capital, have come up in Italy, but nobody outside Italy has picked them up.

This is not an accusation, and we do not want it to read like one. But Serie A has a recent precedent: 777 Partners at Genoa, a fund that collapsed and a club that was sold. Napoli supporters need no reminding of 2004. That is exactly why they have a right to know who is behind a signature before it goes on the paper.

The president is the safeguard for now

For the moment Aurelio De Laurentiis is the filter. A few days ago he said due diligence had never started. Earlier he had been blunt: "Napoli is not for sale." He then softened that to "For the moment I have not decided to sell", and added a line that caused a stir in the city:

"if I had to sell, I would sell to a Neapolitan rather than to an American"

His lawyer, Franco Gianni, explained that with Rizzetta and Underdog Global Partners "talks were on €2.25-2.26bn", and that everything stalled over timing and payment terms. We are not the president's press office, but this needs saying. As long as talks keep running aground on payment guarantees, the filter is doing its job.

Meanwhile Rizzetta is making himself known in the city, and the success of Napoli Basket, the city's winning basketball club, is making him popular. That worries us. A fanbase let down by an October like this one risks seeing anyone from outside with a nine-figure sum as a way out, and skipping the questions it would ask with a cool head. A new owner should not be judged on likeability or on another team's results. He should be judged on who is paying.

No respite on the pitch

Results give no breathing space either. Napoli are tenth on 11 points. Roma have 18, while Inter and Lazio have 22. The side has conceded seven goals in the last three matches.

Monza-Napoli kicks off at the U-Power Stadium on Wednesday 28 October at 20:45 CET (19:45 UK, 15:45 ET). Landucci will be on the bench because Allegri is suspended. While the board talks in billions, the team has to start picking up points again in Monza.