There's more to the story with Mertens though.
From the very beginning him and his wife have never shut up about how much they loved Naples. I don't think it was a PR thing, they said it in Belgium too. To a neapolitan those things matter.
Apparently Mertens and his wife have been living seperately for a few months now and rumour is that there might have been an affair (which would be a tragedy as they're high school sweethearts).
Some journalists have also implied that his wife now no longer wants to live in Naples (presumably the city of his mistress) and is forcing them to move to another city. Some neapolitans appear to have taken this badly.
De Laurentiis can be a moron, but here he's playing his cards right. He can't prevent Mertens from leaving because of personal reasons, so he's trying to discredit him while inflating his love for Naples. If Mertens would decide to stay De Laurentiis can always claim that apparently he came to his senses and realized how much he loved the city.
So yeah, I think he may have gotten this one right.
From the very beginning him and his wife have never shut up about how much they loved Naples. I don't think it was a PR thing, they said it in Belgium too. To a neapolitan those things matter.
Apparently Mertens and his wife have been living seperately for a few months now and rumour is that there might have been an affair (which would be a tragedy as they're high school sweethearts).
Some journalists have also implied that his wife now no longer wants to live in Naples (presumably the city of his mistress) and is forcing them to move to another city. Some neapolitans appear to have taken this badly.
De Laurentiis can be a moron, but here he's playing his cards right. He can't prevent Mertens from leaving because of personal reasons, so he's trying to discredit him while inflating his love for Naples. If Mertens would decide to stay De Laurentiis can always claim that apparently he came to his senses and realized how much he loved the city.
So yeah, I think he may have gotten this one right.

Calshio

