The excess of the “expanded labor cost” can be covered by the treasury, as requested by De Laurentiis who was unable to make purchases in January
Napoli had seen the market blocked in January, despite boasting a net worth of 190 million as of 30 June 2025. From the summer session this will no longer be the case, because the federal council accepted the proposals of the Lega Calcio Serie A, modifying Title VI of the Noif. The rule in question concerns the “extended cost of labor”, i.e. the ratio between revenues (including net proceeds from player trading) and expenses of the first team (salaries, amortization of cards, agents’ commissions). Clubs that exceed the 70% threshold (valid for the next check; we started from 80%) cannot operate freely on the market: they are obliged to have a zero balance between purchases and sales, with the risk of suffering a total block in the following session in the event of a further deterioration. This is what happened to Napoli, one of the two Serie A clubs to have exceeded the parameter (the other, Pisa, had remedied the situation with contributions from its members).
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Aurelio De Laurentiis had called for a change in the rules, precisely in light of the overall picture of Napoli, considered one of the models of sound management of Italian football. “But how, my coffers are full and I can’t operate on the market freely due to an unfair rule? Let’s change it, let’s go to the vote”: this is the summary of the Italian president’s speech at the Lega assembly. All the other top-flight clubs agreed in principle, but not on a running correction. In particular, Inter, Juventus and Roma had abstained, while Milan had voted against. No unanimity, no endorsement from the FIGC. With the bowls still in place, the parties worked on a modification of the Noif valid for the future. And the green light arrived at the last federal council. What changes? The companies that exceed the “expanded labor cost” will be able to cover the excess, as well as through contributions from members or non-recourse transfers of credits from transfer markets or TV contracts, also by using profit reserves, “if distributable to members in compliance with current legislation, accounted for in the intermediate balance sheet situations at 31 March or 30 September, subject to a resolution of the shareholders’ meeting to affix an unavailability restriction and quantify the amount to be use”. It is understood that the revaluation reserves and the legal reserve do not contribute to offsetting the deficit.
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The financial and financial health of the club will therefore be taken into account. In the specific case, Napoli, despite having recently altered the management balance by virtue of the massive investments made in the last two years, can rely on the resources deriving from a rigorous application of budgetary discipline. In De Laurentiis’ twenty years, Napoli recorded an aggregate profit of 120 million. This treasure was not distributed to shareholders in the form of dividends, but remained in the club’s possession, partly reinvested in the team and partly kept in cash, so much so that as of 30 June 2025, liquidity stood at 174 million and net assets at 190 million, with 216 million in profit reserves (then dropped to 195 to cover the loss of 21 million in the last financial year). By May 31, the companies will have to submit the documentation for the purposes of the checks that will be considered for the summer market to the independent Commission established by the Government (which replaced Covisoc). The items relating to “expanded labor costs” must refer to the interim statements as of 31 March. From the next monitoring, Napoli will be able to prepare the cards using the mechanism of constant depreciation quotas: the Azzurri, together with Udinese, in fact adopt depreciation at decreasing quotas for the purposes of the civil code, a circumstance which further penalized them in the control of a few months ago. In any case, beyond the rules, De Laurentiis already has in mind to reduce the level of sports spending, which has grown by over 100 million in the last two seasons between member salaries and depreciation. This is because the management of Napoli has always been based on a principle of self-sufficiency. It is therefore unthinkable to maintain the same pace of growth sustained in Antonio Conte’s first two years on the bench: the sustainability of the project depends on it.
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