Maurizio Zamparini, historical president of the Italian club Palermo, died this Tuesday at the age of 80 due to a serious illness, after a long career dedicated to soccer in which he launched world-class talents such as the Argentines Paulo Dybala and Xavier Shepherd or the Uruguayan Edinson Cavani.
The death of the Italian businessman, who had been admitted to a clinic in Ravenna (north) for several weeks, was confirmed by the club and in the last few hours messages of condolences from many Serie A clubs have multiplied.
Palermo was president between 2002 and 2018, when the Sicilian club achieved the best results in its history, until playing three consecutive editions of the UEFA Cup, in 2005, 2006 and 2007, as well as being a finalist in the Italian Cup.
A soccer expert, he brought to Palermo young talents such as Dybala, Cavani, Pastore, the Slovenian Josip Ilicic, the Italian-Brazilian Amauri or world champions such as Andrea Barzagli.
He signed Dybala in 2012, when he was 19 years old, and transferred him three years later to Juventus for more than forty million euros. Also Pastore, sold to Paris Saint Germain for 45 million, and Cavani, signed for five million and sold to Napoli for 17, were other notable bets for Zamparini’s Palermo.
He came to fire up to 51 coaches
He is remembered in Italy as one of the most demanding presidents with his coaches and, in his long career, he fired up to 51 technicians.
Gian Piero Gasperini, who is now triumphing at Atalanta; Stefano Pioli, coach of Milan, or Francesco Guidolin are some technicians who had working relationships with the Italian businessman.
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