Mauro Meluso Dimaro Press Conference in Full

Mediaset – Carlo Landoni

First of all, what sensations, emotions and what responsibilities do you feel in being the sporting director of the Italian champion team? And then I know that your work has just begun, however I wanted to understand if you could give us what signals you have received on the matter of Osmhen’s renewal from the player’s entourage and if you have positive signs, are you optimistic about the renewal?
Meluso: In the meantime my sensations are particularly positive because obviously the Italian champion club came to a large club so in short the responsibilities increase compared to the past but my idea is that, in any case, football is the same at all latitudes. Maybe the numbers change though. Then, I’ve been in football at all levels, as a player and also as a sports director, so I think that, in short, of course, responsibilities increase precisely because there are higher economic commitments. And obviously also higher numbers of followers, of fans, so it is clear that a lot changes. However, this is not a reason for fear. On the contrary, it’s a reason for further stimulus, for responsibility, and therefore I’m particularly happy to be [here]. I thank the president De Laurentiis obviously, the managing director Chiavelli, Maurizio Micheli who thought of me. In an hour I’ll dwell a bit, because the In short, the question is quite complex but I really liked it. For example, I was suddenly called after this anecdote that the president told us, it was the 2021 season and we came to play with Spezia in Naples and we won, we can say deservedly. And at the end of the game the president, let’s say we have a football protocol that is not written but they are customs that we have therefore going outside this protocol, because a president of an important club who loses against a small team in Serie A, maybe pissed off goes to reprimand maybe his team or takes it out on the referee. Instead, he came to the dressing room and it was a big surprise I think for everyone, even for you from the Press, no? And from that moment, in short, there have been some contacts but obviously formal between a president and a director who worked in the same area. On July 13, last Wednesday, the President called me between 7 and 7:30 and asked me to go and talk to him and I rushed to Naples obviously in the morning if between 7:30 in the morning. So I arrived more or less before lunch, we had a chat and the president was, in short, he asked me quite a few questions so, in short, even if, in short, he already knew me, obviously they had already asked I think a minimum of selection and then he invited me to lunch. We spoke there was also Maurizio Micheli and Antonio, the genius, the president and we found the president at the table, a beautifully laid table, you could see the whole gulf. And he pulled out a piece of paper containing the contractual conditions which obviously took us 20 seconds to agree on and thus this nice adventure was born. Regarding Osimhen, I just arrived so what I knew before, I read it in the newspapers. Obviously what I know today is that Osimhen, if we manage to keep him, it’s a great thing because obviously he is a player who makes the difference in Serie A and there there aren’t so many players who make a difference in Serie A. But, let’s say, I just arrived so these are things we will see. All the problems, we will slowly begin to see the problems or in any case the things to work on together with Micheli, together with the president, together with the administrator Chiavelli. In short, therefore, these are things that we will work on together and any decision we take is obviously collegial and I have always been used to working like this.

RAI – Fabrizio Cappella

Your premise is that you has just arrived, but yesterday in the conference Garcia said Kim is practically no longer here, we have lost him.  He has already talked about the possible replacement from a technical point of view. Can we still explain where we are, i.e. what is the expiry of the release clause if Bayern have done everything they had to do?
Meluso: I repeat, I’ve just arrived. So, from Monday we’ll start holding meetings and we’ll start planning what needs to be done. Now I believe that before me, it’s not that they’ve been idle and therefore Micheli and the president precisely, Director Chiavelli, did their thing. They went on with their work. Then there will be one more voice who will perhaps also give his opinion, his considerations. But I repeat, Kim, in short, he is certainly a player who will have to be replaced and therefore we will work on this.

Sky Sport – Massimo Ugolini

The president spoke of consultation with Micheli, with Chiavelli, to choose your name. I ask you if he also gave you the areas of action. That is, what the president mainly wants from you, beyond obviously the sporting director’s job, a speech relating to the transfer market. That is, are there areas, particular tasks in which your intervention has been underlined?
Meluso: I believe that in such an area of ​​such an important company, you cannot work with a single person who decides. There are more sectors that you meet, more people you meet, who then make their ideas available and then obviously you arrive at a joint decision. Of course, the president De Laurentiis, you know him, he is not one who is a decision maker. So obviously he will have an important weight. But, when I spoke to the president he asked me precisely if I were a person who does this job at 360 degrees, not only therefore dealing with the market. Obviously in the past I have dealt with it for most of my time, but also dealing with internal relationships, in short, it is a club that has just won the Scudetto, so in short it has changed, they changed coaches, they changed sporting director. Therefore, we will also have to work internally because the team that won the Scudetto is not overturned, in short, it is a strong team. And then also work, note those few players who may need to be replaced, Ndombele has gone, Kim has gone, so those will certainly have to be worked on. Certain strategies, certain things obviously remain in the sphere of secrecy. Otherwise, they will do my job. By now, they would come out, it would be very negative.

SportItalia – Jolanda De Rienzo 

I refer to some of the coach’s words yesterday. He said he would like to keep them all, referring to his players, to his squad, and there are some players expiring in 2024. I am thinking of Zielinski, I am thinking of Lozano, who is being talked about so much now in the transfer market. If it depended on you, on your desk, what would it be beyond the extensions? Before we talked about Osimhen, but if we talk about renewal, what would be the first contract you would renew, also thinking about the team’s game, how Garcia wants to play and the first talks you have had? And then, a personal curiosity if I may, what did you think of the phone call from De Laurentiis at 7:00/7:30 in the morning?
Meluso: As far as the team is concerned, obviously a team that wins, by 20 points ahead, the Scudetto in Italy is a super team. So obviously kudos to whoever has it built and to those who coached it and a bit of everything that there are on such a clear victory. I believe there are many components that worked and all together. So it is clear that I would keep them all but then you have to go and see the dynamics of football, the internal dynamics because football is, true from the outside he says, but the team that won doesn’t change a single iota, but there are so many things that whoever does my job, whoever is the president, whoever is the administrator, who’s the coach, I know that they are the dynamics that concern many things and obviously we work. What can Napoli do? They can work to try to remain at a high level in a competitive team so this is certainly what we will do but the dynamics that will lead us to this, I don’t know yet. We will develop them as the work continues in these weeks. This is a team that I repeat, who has not only won the Scudetto by 20 points last year, but in short over the years it is a team that has had a crescendo. So it is a team that surely must remain at the highest levels…I was really amazed because I certainly didn’t expect it because in short it is clear that in short Naples that calls immense but it was, not hat it was not something I deserved, allow me to say, but it probably wasn’t that moment, that is, we are in the right place but in the moment I didn’t think it could happen.

La Gazzetta dello Sport – Maurizio Nicita 

You mentioned earlier the dynamics are complex, there are many today, let’s say, in the sports area, let’s call it, that there are many components precisely then beyond everything. There are some important changes also in the light of your experience. What is the part where you can give a major contribution in relations with the team, in the bridge between the administrative and political management of the company and the team or other? There are so many aspects to evaluate here.
Meluso: but I don’t know because it’s something we’ll see, but I’ve certainly played football at all levels and I’ve been in football since I was a child, so let’s just say that I’m a person with experience. I’m 58, I’m going on 59, so I mean, I’ve been doing this job for many years because for football reasons, or rather more than football reasons for injury reasons, I soon stopped playing. I’ve been doing this job since 97 so in short it’s been many years even if in lower categories. But this is the fact to have done this job in lower categories and to have accumulated all this experience gives me, I have always kept a low profile, always very humbly I arrived. I always tried to climb this mountain which was to get to Serie A and I got there first with Lecce and then I managed Spezia and this gives me great strength because I know football well and in all its facets so this gives me strength. Then I’ll tell you a little anecdote if you like. When I was 13, I was selected for to come and play for Napoli in the Napoli youth team, so at the time there was the Soccavo field If I remember correctly then, to audition here but my mum opposed this transfer. Sormani came, Angelo benedicto Sormani, came to my house to try to convince my family but it wasn’t lost and too far I was 13 then. The year after Franco Janice who was sporting director had chosen me he went to make some transformations and I insisted with mine and go to work. So anyway, In short, Napoli was on my way on my trajectory. I found it today, I find it again and I am very glad it was destiny.

Il Corriere dello Sport – Fabio Mandarini

You have been in football for many years, as you have also said and as we know, and I wanted your comment on the Arab market on what is happening, the upheaval of the market with this Arab power and if you somehow perceived it in these early days, if there there are also situations of Arab interests towards the Napoli players
Meluso: No, interests in Napoli players have not yet been reported to me. But we will begin to be operational from, let’s say, from tomorrow because tomorrow we have a meeting with the president, Chiavelli, Micheli and also with the other scouts so we will start talking at 360 degrees. For the moment I have no news of this kind. The Arab market, I say things that are taken for granted, has economic potential much higher than ours and that do not derive from television rights but probably from their own resources. It is clear that we cannot compete when you offer a player 20 million net or 15 or 18 so it’s a bit busted, let’s say, the market, but possibly for the moment only on a few players.

La Repubblica – Marco Azzi

I took the liberty of reading your bio, [which says] “a winner always finds a way, a loser always finds an excuse.” Will this be the subject of your visit?
Meluso: But it’s a maxim I wrote on my WhatsApp profile, he probably found it there. But I believe that very often, those who always find excuses because they don’t arrive always take it out on others, let’s say, they hide behind their own responsibilities. Since I’m always used to taking it, I put this but it’s something on WhatsApp that we say more jokingly than anything else. it’s a bit of a philosophy of my life, sure, but it’s who has my number knows it.

Corriere della Sera – Ciro Troise

Earlier you said a phrase that struck me, football is the same at all latitudes, and you quoted Lecce, Spezia. From first impressions you had, how much changes in the complexity of working methods from clubs such as Lecce or Spezia to internationally renowned clubs such as Napoli, because they play in European cups, they’re champions of Italy, and what a challenge on a professional level for you to have this opportunity?
Meluso:  I was saying that football is the same at all latitudes for one reason, because in football anyway, to make things work, first of all you need a club that has clear ideas and that has great coherence. For me coherence is the main part because when you are coherent you are credible. So this in football is fundamental because those who then make us win games or make us lose them are the players as well as obviously having skilled players who potentially make us win. If a situation is not created in which one is credible, an aura of uncertainty is created, with little enthusiasm, which is negative. This is why I say that it is equal to everyone, and then they change. I said the numbers change, but this is, let’s say, the greatest common denominator for a company. Then, there is what concerns the pitch and you have to be there. That’s a coach’s gift you have to be particularly meritocratic with certain rules that are enforced, because often good rules are written but then if it’s hard to enforce them. Instead, I think this is really sort of a Bible for football: having rules make them respected.

Il Mattino – Pino Taormina

Since the president De Laurentiis was surprised by the fact that his old sporting director was a fan of Juve, I ask you which team you support first
Meluso: No he didn’t ask me, absolutely not…No, I never supported Juve. So obviously I played in Serie A with Cremonese, with Lazio, so but I don’t support a particular team. The real question, I know what it refers to but in short, obviously, I support the squad I work for, because obviously when I was at Lecce I gave everything for Lecce, when I was at La Spezia for La Spezia. Now that I’m in Naples, to reconnect with the question your colleague asked earlier and which I may not have answered, It’s a great opportunity for me so obviously I will give all I can give my best.

Taormina:  the question instead, seen from afar, what is it that has always struck you the most about this Napoli project, about this team from the South, that brings the Scudetto back to the south after 22 years that never comes but what is the thing that always impresses you the most from a distance?
Meluso: But you know very well that I have dear Neapolitan friends, I think it came out. In short, it is [true] and I spoke [about it] often, and now obviously I will be able to talk to them even more about Naples. Here is what struck me, you asked me if I was always very impressed by the great warmth that there is in Naples, by the great participation. I remember that in the month of December, at the beginning of the month of December, I took a trip to Naples and there was still water to pass under the bridge before winning the scudetto, and yet this city was over the moon. So I must say that people make you feel very important here but it is clear that responsibilities increase. I believe that in any case there has been a club that has its maximum expression in the president De Laurentiis who has worked very well in recent years. Nicola told me just now that in the last 10 years, other than Juventus, Napoli has scored the most total. So it means that this club has worked very well and therefore the crowning achievement of a dream was this Scudetto which has been missing for so many years. It is an extraordinary thing and it can be seen from the enthusiasm we already breathe here and which is contagious because obviously this enthusiasm is a good fuel for us.

Il Roma – Giovanni Scotto

Some of your players, I think of La Mantia, Mancosu, Provedel above all, have left their mark in your career. I ask you as sporting director of Napoli, imagining leaving a mark as did your predecessors Giuntoli, Bigon, imagine if more than trying to enhance Italian football players from the lower categories obviously, or if you continue with the search for these foreigners like Kvaratskhelia, in quotation marks, unknown, who then amaze the world.
Meluso: But look at the discussion, this is what the scouts, myself, in short, we are always looking for something that is positive. In this period I have remained stationary however, I have not stayed to watch the games only on television. I have been to Argentina, Brazil, to Turkey, for example. I had seen Kim live in Fenerbahce so it is clear that you always need to keep up to date. However, if you work in Spezia or Lecce, Napoli could obviously have different objectives, no? Because the objectives then show you which path to take on the market because if you have goals to save yourself it is clear that you don’t have to look for top level players. But it is always welcome to discover a player who is perhaps little known and who can explode. That is the dream of all those who do my job.

Radio Marte – Gianluca Giffoni

Yesterday coach Garcia sat in this seat and said that in the area of the ductility he will seek for next season, the team intends to shore up the team by respecting and above all improving the parameters. Now let’s imagine the technical and not economic parameters. Here you are already compared with Garcia and knowing Napoli in recent weeks, in these ten days, do you have an idea of ​​how this team can be shored up?
Meluso: No, I don’t have this idea because some time needs to pass. We need to hold meetings, we need to better understand what to do, where to go, what can be improved, which ones to keep close. So these are things of reasoning that we will do later. I have arrived really for two days so I haven’t fully assumed my role yet.

Claro Sport – Sabrina Ucello

I just wanted to ask you as sporting director why, from your point of view, the South American market has become so complicated for Serie A and instead such a wide window has opened up on Eastern Europe?
Meluso: it’s not that complicated.

De Laurentiis: We should tell Malagò and Gravina and the league the reasoning is clear. We are the only country that can only make two non-EU citizens.

Meluso: in fact, what the president says is correct. It is clear that these are rules which then penalize us and even if in the past there have been some laws of the state of the previous government which, to recall, which we relied on. However, it’s a bit complex, it’s difficult to talk about it here.

De Laurentiis: It would be nice to say something a dialogue with you which should be very prompt to solicit the competent bodies because you know that Coni has the possibility of having X for all non-EU sports. So one should say, “Dear Malagò, since we have this problem with England, step aside for a moment since football finances all or almost all of this, I would say all of Italian sport, so let’s get a few more units while still respecting the post-wire law because then in Italy we don’t know why, having made a law, we never change it. So there is an overlap that encrusts the whole mechanism and bureaucratizes everything where joint-stock companies and therefore clubs cannot go their own way because there are snares and oppositions that prevent you from doing real business That’s why then you end up looking only for the outlet.