'Amy' filmmaker Asif Kapadia is to make a documentary movie about legendary soccer star Diego Maradona.

Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona

The British director's latest project, aptly named 'Maradona', will focus on the Argentine's time at Italian heavyweights Napoli, who he joined in 1984 for a then world record £6.9 million fee and helped guide to their first ever top flight championship.

The film will feature hundreds of hours of never-before-seen footage from the superstar's personal archives.

Kapadia is quoted by the Hollywood Reporter as saying: "I was taken by his character, his genius, honesty, passion, humour and vulnerability.

"I was fascinated by his journey, wherever he went there were moments of incredible brilliance and drama, he was a leader, taking his teams to the very top, but also many lows in his career.

"He was always the little guy fighting against the system, against the wealthy, the powerful and he was willing to do anything, to use all of his cunning and intelligence to win."

In 1986, Maradona won the World Cup with Argentina after he scored an incredible solo goal against England on their way to the final.

But his career wasn't all positive and his time at Napoli ending controversially in 1992 when he left the club for Spanish team Sevilla after being handed a 15-month ban for failing a drugs test for cocaine.

Despite this, he was adored by Napoli and their fans, and his number 10 shirt was retired in tribute.

Kapadia's 'Amy' collaborators James Gay-Rees will produce the film, and Chris King will edit the project.

As well as 'Amy', which tells the story of the untimely death of singer Amy Winehouse, Kapadia was responsible for 2010 documentary film 'Senna', which is about the late Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna who died after a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.

The filmmaker is also working with Gay-Rees on an as-yet untitled documentary about British rockers Oasis.

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