An American offer of around two billion euros raised the question of Napoli’s future
An American consortium connected with the Underdog Global Partners group has, according to Italian and international sports media reports, submitted an offer worth around two billion euros to take over Napoli. This is an amount that, if it were ever accepted and carried through a formal sale process, would represent one of the most high-profile ownership operations in the history of Italian football. However, according to the information available, the deal has not been concluded, and by May 25, 2026, no official confirmation had come from the club itself that a sale process had been opened. Napoli remains under the control of Aurelio De Laurentiis, the long-serving president who took over the club after its financial collapse in 2004 and, over two decades, returned it to the top of Italian football.
The information about the offer comes at a particularly sensitive moment for the club. Napoli ended the 2025/26 season with a 1-0 win against Udinese, and the club’s official website published a report from that match on May 24. According to the Lega Serie A table, Inter finished the season as champions, while Napoli remained near the top of the standings and secured continuity of competitive relevance after winning the title a year earlier. Such a sporting position increases the club’s value, but at the same time it also raises the question of what direction the management should choose ahead of the next season. Alongside the possible ownership issue, the coaching question is also in the foreground, as several sources state that Antonio Conte will not continue to lead the team.
For now, De Laurentiis is not sending a signal that he wants to sell the club
According to Corriere dello Sport, Aurelio De Laurentiis rejected the offer from the United States of America and intends to keep Napoli, especially ahead of a year in which the club’s continuity and the importance of the project he has been building since the mid-2000s are being further emphasized. Similar claims were also published by Goal and the Italian business portal QuiFinanza, according to which the American interest is connected with investors around Underdog Global Partners and Matt Rizzetta. Rizzetta is known in the Italian sports space for his links with projects in basketball and football, including Napoli Basket and Campobasso, but for now there has been no official announcement that negotiations with Napoli have entered a final or legally binding phase.
It is important to distinguish between an offer, investor interest and a completed sale. In Italian football in recent years, foreign capital has been playing an increasingly important role, but every transaction of this scale would require due diligence, an agreement with the owner, regulatory checks and final legal steps. In Napoli’s case, an additional element is the personal role of De Laurentiis, who is not a classic passive owner, but a president whose public identity is strongly tied to the club. The official biography on the SSC Napoli website describes him as a film producer and club president, and it is precisely his era that has been marked by the return from the lower divisions, stabilization and the winning of trophies.
The offer of around two billion euros significantly exceeds the estimates that had previously appeared in football-finance analyses. Football Benchmark, in its 2025 report on the value of European clubs, stated that Napoli had entered the group of clubs whose enterprise value is greater than one billion euros. If the media claims about two billion are accurate, the American consortium is prepared to pay a significant premium compared with such estimates, probably on the assumption that the value can be further increased through the stadium, commercial revenue, the international market and the expansion of the sporting ecosystem. This, however, does not mean that a sale is certain, because at this moment there is no publicly available document that would confirm acceptance of the offer.
Why Napoli is attractive to investors
Napoli is one of the most recognizable Italian clubs, with a large fan base, a strong city identity and a reputation as a club that can compete with financially stronger rivals. The sporting rise under De Laurentiis culminated in championship titles, and in recent seasons the club has regularly been an important factor in the battle for the top of Serie A. Such status attracts investors because clubs with a strong brand, a large stadium, international visibility and European ambitions have room for revenue growth. In Napoli’s case, the potential for infrastructure modernization and better commercial exploitation of the club’s global popularity is mentioned particularly often.
In European football, American investors are already deeply present. In Serie A, foreign owners or funds have taken over or financially supported several clubs in recent years, and Italy has become interesting because historic brands have often been available at lower valuations than comparable clubs in England. But Serie A also has structural challenges: stadium revenue is often limited, bureaucracy around infrastructure projects can be slow, and television rights do not reach the level of the Premier League. That is why investors in Italian clubs usually do not buy only current results, but also the long-term possibility of increasing commercial strength through management, real estate, digital channels and international tours.
Napoli stands out in that picture because it is not only a sporting brand, but also a symbol of the city. That makes any change of ownership sensitive. Potential buyers would have to convince the local public that they are not coming only for a financial return, but that they understand the emotional and social weight of the club. De Laurentiis has often been criticized over the years, but he has also been credited with financial discipline and sporting growth. Therefore, even a potential sale would require a clear vision: from the stadium and the youth academy to continuity in the choice of sporting director, coach and player policy.
Conte’s period is nearing its end
The second major problem for Napoli is not ownership-related, but sporting. Antonio Conte officially took over the team in June 2024, and the club announced at the time that he had signed a contract until June 30, 2027. The arrival of a profile like Conte was a strong message of ambition: he is a coach who has won titles with Juventus, Chelsea, Inter and Napoli and is known for demanding work, intensity and a clear team structure. But according to information from CBS Sports and other media reports, Conte has decided to leave at the end of the 2025/26 season, even though his contract formally still has one year to run.
If that outcome is confirmed by an official club announcement, the new owner or the current management will have to resolve the coaching issue quickly. The coaching decision will be crucial because Napoli is entering a period in which it must maintain its status as a team near the top of Serie A while at the same time avoiding the impression of a transitional season. Conte’s systems often require a specific profile of player, strong physical preparation and a high level of discipline, so his departure does not mean only a change of name on the bench. It can also mean a change of tactical direction, priorities in the transfer window and the way the team prepares for European obligations.
Italian media are already mentioning possible successor names, including coaches with experience in Serie A. According to La Repubblica, Vincenzo Italiano and Massimiliano Allegri have been mentioned in the Napoli context, while other media reports also mention Maurizio Sarri, the coach who previously led Napoli and left a strong mark with his recognizable attacking style. None of these options, however, has been officially confirmed. It is important for the club that the decision be made quickly, but not hastily, because the coach who takes over the team after Conte must be given enough time to plan pre-season preparations and the transfer window.
A possible return to the Italy bench
Conte’s next move is additionally interesting because of the situation in the Italian national team. The Guardian reported in April that De Laurentiis said he would not stand in Conte’s way if the coach asked to leave for the Italy bench. The same source recalled that Conte had already led the Italian national team from 2014 to 2016 and that at the 2016 European Championship he reached the quarter-finals, where Italy were eliminated by Germany after penalties. In Italian football, such a candidacy would carry weight because Conte knows the national-team environment, and his style is often considered suitable for short gatherings and competitive pressure.
The national-team context is even more sensitive after Italy’s failure in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. According to an AFP report published by Al Jazeera, the president of the Italian Football Federation, Gabriele Gravina, resigned after Italy failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup. The Guardian also stated that a decision on the successor on the bench is not expected before the federation’s extraordinary meeting scheduled for June 22, when the issue of the FIGC president is also expected to be resolved. This means that Conte, even if he is a candidate, is entering a process that depends on the institutional outcome within the federation, not only on his personal decision.
For Italy, Conte would be a solution with clear advantages and limitations. The advantage is authority, experience and the ability to quickly impose a team identity. The limitation is that the national team must carry out a broader renewal after another disappointment, and no coach can solve the structural problems of Italian football alone, from the development of young players to the international competitiveness of clubs and the national team. If Conte were to take over Italy, Napoli would have to close one important chapter and open a new one without delay. If he decides to rest or choose another club, the question of his future will still have an impact on the coaching market.
The ownership decision and coaching choice are more connected than they seem
At first glance, the American consortium’s offer and Conte’s departure are two separate stories, but in practice they are closely connected. An owner who wants to keep the club must show that he has a clear sporting plan after the departure of a coach with a championship profile. A potential buyer, on the other hand, would have to show that they can take over the club without destabilizing the team and without losing the trust of the fans. In both scenarios, the summer of 2026 could be decisive for Napoli’s direction: whether the club will continue under De Laurentiis with a new sporting strategy or whether American interest will grow into a more serious takeover process.
According to the information currently available, the most cautious formulation is that Napoli is the subject of strong interest from American investors, but that the sale has not been confirmed. Media reports about an amount of around two billion euros show how attractive the club is on the market, but De Laurentiis’s position so far suggests that financial value is not the only criterion for him. In the sporting part, Conte’s possible departure creates a more urgent deadline because the coaching decision must be made before the start of preparations. This is an issue that will interest fans and the market regardless of whether the ownership structure changes.
Napoli is therefore entering a period in which the club’s stability will be measured. The result against Udinese closed the season, but it did not close the most important questions. The club has value, results and recognizability, but now it must show that it can manage uncertainty. If De Laurentiis remains at the helm, he is expected to appoint a coach quickly and send a clear message about ambitions. If American interest continues, transparency and the ability to ensure that the sporting project does not turn into a prolonged period of speculation will be crucial.
Sources:
- SSC Napoli – official announcement on the appointment of Antonio Conte and the contract until June 30, 2027 (link)
- SSC Napoli – official club website and publication of the match report from Napoli – Udinese on May 24, 2026 (link)
- SSC Napoli – official biography of president Aurelio De Laurentiis (link)
- Lega Serie A – official Serie A Enilive 2025/26 standings (link)
- Corriere dello Sport – report on the alleged two-billion-euro offer and De Laurentiis’s position (link)
- Goal – report on the American offer, Underdog Global Partners and Matt Rizzetta (link)
- QuiFinanza – analysis of the sports-economic context of the offer for Napoli (link)
- Football Benchmark – Football Clubs’ Valuation: The European Elite 2025 report and context of Napoli’s value (link)
- CBS Sports – report on Antonio Conte’s expected departure from Napoli (link)
- The Guardian – report on Conte, the possibility of returning to the Italy bench and De Laurentiis’s position (link)
- Al Jazeera / AFP – report on Gabriele Gravina’s resignation after Italy’s failure in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup (link)