Napoli is having forbidden dreams these days. Big dreams. Very big. 2^nd-ranked-FIFA-Player-of-the-year big. According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, the Italian club are attempting to find the finances to make a mega-offer for Argentine and Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, as they believe he could bring the club back to the glory days of Diego Armando Maradona. Delusions of grandeur or very sincere hope for the future? Better yet… is this just another ridiculous rumor that is so far-fetched it is not even remotely possible? When Neapolitans dreams, they dream big, but some of them have already woken up and started working to make this dream a reality.

According to El Mundo Deportivo (which by the way is a traditionally pro-Barcelona newspaper), the Neapolitan project is being spearheaded by the Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis (a well-known Italian cinema producer), with the objective of turning the club into a Scudetto contender, just like the good old days of Maradona. Not only is there a very concrete project to bring Azzurri captain Fabio Cannavaro back to his old colors at the end of the 2007-08 season, but a large number of Neapolitan investors have identified Lionel Messi as the ideal booster rocket for the city’s economy, much to the liking of Maradona in the mid 80′s.

The whole idea came from a Napoli supporters site a few months ago, who (probably jokingly) suggested to bring the Argentine wonderkid to Southern Italy. However, some of the higher powers of the Biancoazzurri club didn’t find the project to be entirely so far-fetched, and apparently have put a plan in motion to convince Messi to the highly-unlikely Napoli transfer. El Mundo Deportivo mentions that Messi was already approached by Napoli emissaries, who on top of a substantial contract offer have also put the attraction of the unique boost to Messi’s self-image onto the table. Indeed, if La Pulga Atómica were to arrive in Southern Italy, he would be instantly idolized by the entire city of Napoli much like Maradona was back in his time.

The only problem? Messi seems to have no intention of leaving Barcelona. and despite he is seen by many as Maradona’s heir at international level, he does not want to follow in his hero’s footsteps by moving to the Stadio San Paolo. As mentioned on Goal.com, “[Messi's] loyalty to Barcelona is well-known as the club brought him over from Argentina and gave him the medicine he needed to grow, while honing his skills on the pitch“.

The buy-out clause in Messi’s contract is believed to be around €125m, but that hasn’t scared Napoli. In fact, the users of the official site’s forum have just suggested the idea of asking all the citizens of Napoli for a small contribution. Now let’s see…  the population of the entire Neapolitan area is about 3 million people… if everyone donates €40 they should reach €125m in the blink of an eye. Right?