Legendary former footballer Diego Maradona is one of the most celebrated athletes in the history of football, but why has a man from Androssen, Scotland, erected a statue of him in his garden?
Well, the Scotsman in question is Napoli player Billy Gilmour, who has now spent just over a year and a half playing for the Serie A club, for which the aforementioned Maradona was a legend.
As reported on social media by outlets such as TNTSportsFootball, Gimour has decided to install a rather impressive life-size statue of the Argentinian icon in the back garden of his residence in Italy, paying tribute to the late legend who brought his current club their first taste of league success during his famous spell there in the late eighties and early nineties.
Gilmour, who is a Napoli fan favourite alongside fellow Scotsman and midfield partner Scott McTominay, is on a five-year contract with I Azzuri, and has already made a name for himself after having played an integral role in helping the club win the Serie A title in his debut season.
Napoli currently sit third in the Serie A table on 66 points (drawn on points with second-place AC Milan), with Inter Milan leading the table by 12 points at present.
Whilst mathematically still possible, Napoli will most likely miss out on the league title this year.
Gimour’s decision to install a statue of the club’s biggest icon in his back garden, however, is a clear sign of how much Napoli and Naples mean to him, so I wouldn’t expect to see him leaving any time soon, especially since he will likely have the ambition to match, if not better, Maradona’s two titles with the club during his tenure.
Some fans online are calling the purchase bizarre, with one Instagram user bluntly commenting, “weird”.
And whilst I admittedly would probably settle for a nice flowerbed, a pond or an outdoor bar in my own garden, you absolutely have to appreciate the sentiment behind Gilmour’s latest ode to Naples.
This kind of passion and respect for the club and its history is part of the reason why the 24-year-old Scot is such a beloved character amongst the Napoli fanbase.
In a time when it is too often that players rant and cry on social media, forcing unnecessary drama upon their own clubs, it’s actually kind of refreshing to see someone show love for their side so openly.
