Diego Demme: From RB Leipzig pioneer to Napoli’s Scudetto winner

Diego Demme was named after Diego Maradona, helped establish RB Leipzig in Germany’s top flight and later fulfilled his family’s dream by winning the Scudetto with Napoli.

Born in November 1991 to Italian immigrant Enzo and his German wife, Demme was almost called Fabio. His father instead chose Diego in honour of Maradona, despite the Napoli icon serving a 15-month ban for testing positive for cocaine at the time.

Demme grew up supporting AC Milan and modelled his combative style on Gennaro Gattuso. After spells with SpVg Hiddenhausen, SV Sungern, SV Enger-Westerenger and FC Rot-Weiss Kirchlengern, he joined Arminia Bielefeld and made his professional debut on 4 December 2010.

He moved to Paderborn for €25,000 in January 2012, making 61 appearances and playing in midfield and at full-back.

“My position was in midfield: whenever I played there, I felt at home,” Demme told Flashscore. “But switching positions gave me more experience and flexibility.”

Despite Paderborn’s push for promotion to the Bundesliga, Demme dropped into the third tier in 2013 to join RB Leipzig after speaking to sporting director Ralf Rangnick. The €350,000 signing helped Leipzig reach the 2. Bundesliga before they finished fifth in 2014/15 and secured automatic promotion in 2015/16.

“The first three years in Leipzig were unbelievable,” he said. “Everybody was hungry, and because of this, we had success. Promotion to the Bundesliga was the best experience of the three promotions.”

Demme became a key player in Leipzig’s first Bundesliga season, earning a Germany debut in 2017 and wearing the captain’s armband. His tackling and discipline allowed attacking players including Naby Keita, Emil Forsberg and Marcel Sabitzer to flourish.

He lost a front tooth in a challenge with Freiburg’s Nicolas Hofler while scoring his first senior goal, but said he never sought the captaincy.

“I never wanted to be a captain, because captains need to speak a lot,” he said. “My way of playing was about doing the dirty work and following the leader.”

Leipzig finished second, sixth and third twice in Demme’s four Bundesliga campaigns, and lost the 2019 DFB-Pokal final 3-0 to Bayern Munich. The club later won its first major trophies by beating Freiburg and Eintracht Frankfurt in successive finals.

In January 2020, while Leipzig led the Bundesliga by two points and were heading towards the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, Napoli made an offer. Despite Napoli being eighth in Serie A, Demme accepted the move after Carlo Ancelotti was replaced by his childhood idol Gattuso.

“It’s almost like something out of a book,” Demme recalled. “My father gave me the name Diego, and I went to Napoli after my idol Gattuso signed me.”

He helped Napoli win the 2020 Coppa Italia, their first trophy in six years, before Maradona died of cardiac arrest five months later. Demme then played a supporting role as Napoli won the Scudetto in 2022/23, their first league title in 33 years.

“Tactically, Spalletti was great,” Demme said. “I didn’t play so much, but he always gave me the feeling that I was part of the team.”

After Napoli finished 10th following Spalletti’s departure, Demme returned to Germany with Hertha Berlin. Following two injuries in two seasons, he announced his retirement on 23 September.

He now raises his daughters, Gia, six, and Ellie, three, with his wife Alina, while attending MMA, boxing and grappling classes. He also plans to play in the Icon League, founded by Toni Kroos and Elias ‘eliasn97’ Nerlich.

Demme is co-owner and managing director of Capvin, a Neapolitan pizzeria group in Berlin-Mitte, and says another branch could open in Georgia with Khvicha Kvaratshkelia.