De Laurentiis: McTominay ‘can be an actor’, Italy legends not suited for FIGC President, Conte…
Aurelio De Laurentiis feels Scott McTominay ‘can be an actor’, while Italy legends such as Paolo Maldini or Alessandro Del Piero are not suited for the role of FIGC President, and reveals that Antonio Conte has requested to conduct the next pre-season behind closed doors.
Napoli owner De Laurentiis reveals Conte wants to keep Partenopei fans far from the team during the summer pre-season.
Conte wants Napoli pre-season without fans
“Do you know what Conte told me yesterday? ‘During the next pre-season in July and August, I don’t want fans at the training sessions,” ADL said during an event in Los Angeles, as quoted by Gazzetta.
“In Trentino, we have 70,000 people, Neapolitans, coming from Germany, Lombardy, from everywhere, just to watch the new and the old players train. When we go to Abruzzo, in Castel di Sangro, we have over 250,000 Neapolitans who come just to watch the pre-season friendlies, where we sometimes invite a French, German or English team for a pre-season friendly.”
ADL spoke about his rapport with Conte also during his latest interview with CBS Sports.
“I met him in the Maldives ten years ago. We went swimming together. At that moment, he was winning everything. When I had problems three years ago, I called him, and he said: ‘Aurelio, I’ll come at the end of the season because I prefer to start from zero and don’t come with the season that has already begun.'”
Conte was appointed in 2024 and won the Scudetto in his first season at the Stadio Maradona. Napoli had also won the Scudetto under Luciano Spalletti in 2022-23.
“I was more emotionally involved with the second because I didn’t know until the end. It felt like being in the casino,” ADL revealed.
“We had a lot of fantastic players. Everyone trained for the club and Conte. Conte was screaming all the time, keeping the level very high and advising anyone not to slow down at any point. He’s a big motivator.”
McTominay was the best Serie A player last season.
“Scott is a real Scottish man. He’s like an actor. Very elegant, very serious,” ADL said.
“He’s a friend. He’s a good boy. There’s somebody you don’t have an exchange with. But with him, you can have an exchange. He’s a fantastic guy. He’s done a lot in the last two years. He has a big personality. He can be an actor.”
How does De Laurentiis handle transfer requests from his coaches?
“There are certain coaches who like to share decisions about buying players, and others who leave it to you, which I believe is more appropriate,” he replied.
“For example, with Spalletti, in the second year, I didn’t renew the contracts of six players and went on the market to buy six players, and we won the Scudetto.
“Spalletti only asked me to buy Raspadori, the only acquisition. He didn’t have a huge success at Napoli, but it happens. When the coach makes a request, you try to please him and make him happy, but in reality, you must be organised to understand the market and what you need.”
De Laurentiis has already backed Giovanni Malagò as the ideal candidate for the FIGC Presidency, so when he was asked whether Paolo Maldini or Alessandro Del Piero should lead the Italian Federation, the reply was quite obvious: “For me, it must not be somebody who was a player in the past,” he said.
“He has to be somebody who can speak politically with the Government to obtain what has never been obtained. Politicians only cause problems with football. It’s time to tell them: look, we must be together to solve financial problems and get help for new stadiums. So we need somebody with the credibility to take the phone, call the Prime Minister, and say, ‘Look, we need this,’ and the PM replies, ‘Okay, we’ll make you happy.'”