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Published 11:12 21 Mar 2022 GMT
Updated 11:14 21 Mar 2022 GMT
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"I don't know if we would've played with Maradona, but it was possible," Hoddle said about the Argentine genius, who joined Napoli from Barcelona two years later.
"I played in the '82 World Cup and Napoli wanted me to sign, so they gave me a 10 day holiday in Positano.
"I went around the stadium - what a crazy place, oh my word. And it was like, 'Yeah I fancy this.'
"Anyway, so I go back in the summer, I'm thinking, right now we'll get (the deal done). I get a phone call from Dennis Roach, my manager, he said, 'Glenn, the deal is off'.
"I asked did they change their mind. 'No,' he said. 'The president's been put in prison and the coach is gone!'
'So, I was like, 'Oh... OK then. We won't be going there'. That was in '82 and Diego went in '83 or '84. It didn't happen, but I had a very nice holiday."
Maradona signed for Napoli from Barcelona in '84 and over the next seven years he helped the club win two Serie A titles, the Copa Italia and the Uefa Cup.
The Argentine forward altered the course of Italian football history, and briefly shifted the balance of power from the dominant northern clubs. Napoli's stadium was renamed in honour of him following Maradona's passing at the end of 2020, at the age of 60.
Hoddle, meanwhile, remained with Spurs until 1987 when he joined AS Monaco. Alongside the late great Maradona at Napoli, however, he would have formed one of Europe's most formidable creative attacking forces.
Hoddle's story about Napoli begins at around the 14:30 minute mark below.
Glenn Hoddle joins Steve Sidwell and Joe Cole in the Coral All To Play For Arms this week. They discuss what it was like being a midfield maestro on the muddy pitches of the 80s, managing England at the ‘98 World Cup and performing live on Top Of The Pops.
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