Kalidou Koulibaly feels it would be ‘wonderful for Napoli to win the Scudetto and dedicate it to Diego Armando Maradona’ a year on from his death.
The club won the Serie A title only twice in its history, both with Maradona in a starring role in 1986-87 and 1989-90.
“If I had to tell the story of the 2021-22 season, I would call it ‘In memory of Maradona.’ It’d be wonderful for Napoli to dedicate this season to him, even more so to win the Scudetto for Maradona,” Koulibaly told DAZN.
“Thinking that a legend like Maradona said kind words about me makes me feel incredibly fortunate. I sent him a jersey and said I was waiting to meet him in Naples.
“I was lucky enough to see him when we played Real Madrid and it made me very happy.”
Maradona died on this day in 2020, at the age of 60, from heart failure.
He will be remembered this weekend at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona with a life-size statue, videos and laser show.
Napoli are currently joint top of the Serie A table alongside Milan, having suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
💙 DIEGO ♾#Maradona pic.twitter.com/HtYWhJ5XpW
— Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) November 25, 2021