Diego Maradona has officially become an honorary Neapolitan – “no-one welcomed me like the Neapolitans”.
The Napoli legend is in Italy to accept the honour, and his status was officially confirmed in a ceremony at Piazza Plebiscito.
“I’ve been a citizen since I arrived in Naples,” Maradona said.
“I thank mayor [Luigi] De Magistris for putting me in the middle of all this, and I want to thank Naples because I travel all over the world and I always see my name written in this city.
Diego Maradona has officially become an honorary Neapolitan – “no-one welcomed me like the Neapolitans”.
The Napoli legend is in Italy to accept the honour, and his status was officially confirmed in a ceremony at Piazza Plebiscito.
“I’ve been a citizen since I arrived in Naples,” Maradona said.
“I thank mayor [Luigi] De Magistris for putting me in the middle of all this, and I want to thank Naples because I travel all over the world and I always see my name written in this city.
“No-one welcomed me as well as the Neapolitans, and thank you to those who didn’t want me to become a Neapolitan citizen, because it proves that we can discuss anything in a democracy.
“I want to prove that I’ve done something for this city.”
De Magistris also gave a brief speech honouring El Diego.
“Diego made the Neapolitan fans dream and then turned the dream into reality, so he deserves honorary citizenship.
“You will stay our number 10 forever, you’ll officially be a Neapolitan citizen. You, Diego, who are the greatest player of all time.”