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Maurizio Zamparini Sells 100 Per Cent Of Palermo After 17 Crazy Years

Maurizio Zamparini Sells 100 Per Cent Of Palermo After 17 Crazy Years

One of the the most colourful characters to ever own a football career...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

In good news for anyone who becomes Palermo manager in the coming years, 77-year old Italian businessman Maurizio Zamparini has sold 100% of his stake in the club after 17 years at the helm.

One of the most colourful and eccentric personalities in Italian football, Zamparini hired and fired a ridiculous 45 managers ever since purchasing the club in 2002.

Incredible, Francesco Guidolin, who was briefly in charge of Swansea, had four different spells as Palermo manager, current manager Delio Rossi is in his third, while Gian Piero Gasperini and Giuseppe Sannino have had two stints with the Sicilian club.

Even Gennaro Gattuso, now manager of AC Milan, had a stab at the managerial job at the Stadio Renzo Barbera in June 2013 and lasted just three months.

Zamparini was so sack-happy that he once declared his New Year's resolution in 2016 would be to not fire anyone and then promptly came through with seven different dismissals that year.

The wildly unpredictable owner had a knack for coming out for memorable sound-bites too. He once stated he would cut off his players' testicles and eat them in his salad after a disappointing defeat in 2003 and also said, "we should put all of the referees in prison" when discussing the state of officiating in Italy.

But as batshit crazy as he is Zamparini did have success. He led the club into European competition on several occasions and made massive profits on the likes of Edinson Cavani, Javier Pastore and Paulo Dybala.

Image: PA
Image: PA

In fact, you can field a pretty outrageous Zamparini XI of players who wore the salmon pink of Palermo during his time at the club.

Now, however, I Rosanero, have confirmed that his involvement in the club is no more - with Sporting Network SRL acquiring his stake.

A statement from Palermo read: "Daniela De Angeli and Sporting Network SRL announce that the transfer of ownership was formalised today, of the shares of Palermo Football Club SPA, sole shareholder of US Citta di Palermo SPA.

Zamparini leaves Palermo in third place in Serie B, with the team still in with a shout of achieving automatic promotion back to the top-flight.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football News, Football, Serie A, Italian Football, Paulo Dybala, Edinson Cavani, Italy