Maradona Was Napoli’s Second Choice.

By: chris | August 22nd, 2008

Unless you happen to be a really big fan of a player or his club, chances are you don’t get too excited about footballer autobiographies. Some are still very good, yes, but most are just a bunch of stories about lockerroom bustups and threesomes involving Kieron Dyer and Rio Ferdinand. But Ian Rush, he of Liverpool lore, dropped a pretty big bombshell in his tell-all story recently. Three years before his stint with Juve, he was due to join Napoli for what at the time was an unfathomable amount of money, but Liverpool refused the deal, nixing the move. Napoli, being ever so courteous, called Ian’s agent to to let them know with the deadline fast approaching they had found a replacement for Rush: one Diego Maradona.

Here’s what Ian had to say:

“I was very happy at Liverpool and had no desire to leave, but Charles Roberts (his agent) told me I should not dismiss the opportunity outright.

“When Charles told me what Napoli were offering it made my eyes water. I was to receive £1m as a signing on fee.

“I was aware of my knees trembling, and I nearly fainted when Charles told me the ‘bones of the deal’.

“In addition to the signing on fee, Napoli was willing to pay me another £1m over a three-year contract. It was a Thursday and the Italian transfer deadline was 48 hours off. Charles told me that if I did not sign by Saturday all bets were off.

“Liverpool chairman John Smith was in London watching the tennis at Wimbledon, and in the days before mobile phones Charles didn’t manage to get in touch until Friday.

“Mr Smith told him he needed time to think and refused to discuss the matter until the Monday morning, which of course was two days after the Italian transfer deadline.

“I managed to contact Mr Smith, asked if I could come down to London to discuss the matter, only for him to refuse point blank.

“Though still not 100 per cent sure about whether I wanted to move or not, I was angered by Mr Smith’s reaction, given the urgency of the impending deadline.

“The deadline came and went. As a consequence the deal collapsed. I then received a call from Charles to say Napoli had been in touch. Having been unable to speak to Mr Smith they’d had no alternative but to look elsewhere and had signed Diego Maradona.

“I was so upset with the chairman’s belligerence and rudeness in not even returning Napoli’s calls that for a long time a

Pure madness, eh? And Rush is only 46, so he should still have all his marbles (fingers crossed). Although, he is widely known for this little nugget….

On his time with Juventus: “It was like playing in a foreign country.”

…..so there’s no clue how good those marbles were in the first place. But still….wow. Is it safe to say Maradona is by far the single best backup plan of all time? It’d be hard to argue otherwise considering his time spent there (ignoring the cocaine huffing, bastardized child producing parts).