The day Napoli bought Maradona from Barcelona for 15 billion lire

Before

On 30 June 1984 Napoli completed the signing of Diego Armando Maradona from Barcelona. The fee was 15 billion lire. The player heading to Fuorigrotta, the district that is home to the club's stadium, was an Argentine born in Lanús in 1960.

Until that summer, the honours list ran to a few lines. The first Coppa Italia (Italy's cup competition) came in 1961-62, with Pesaola as coach and the team in Serie B. The second followed in 1976, against Verona.

In the league, the high points were two second-place finishes. The first came in 1967-68, with Zoff, Juliano, Sívori and Altafini. The second came in 1974-75, with Vinício as coach. The scudetto, the Serie A title, had never come.

After

The after began in 1986-87, when Napoli won the scudetto and the Coppa Italia with Bianchi as coach.

They finished second in 1987-88 and again in 1988-89. In the second of those seasons they won the UEFA Cup, beating Stuttgart in the final. It is still the only one in the club's trophy cabinet.

In 1989-90, with Bigon as coach, the second scudetto arrived. The Supercoppa, the Italian Super Cup, followed in 1990.

Maradona left Napoli in 1991. He died on 25 November 2020. In December that year the stadium in Fuorigrotta, opened in 1959 as the San Paolo, was renamed after him. Plenty of people in the city still call it by its old name. Both names are correct, but the official one is his.

Since that 30 June 1984, Napoli have won two more league titles, in 2022-23 and 2024-25. Even so, the deal with Barcelona remains the moment the club stopped settling for a good finish.

The fans still judge every season by that standard. On Sunday 8 November at 12:30 CET (11:30 UK, 06:30 ET), Lazio come to that stadium as league leaders.