Maradona open to Dorados stay if requests met

Diego Maradona says he is open to staying at Dorados as manager if his terms are met.

The Argentine legend took over the club playing in the Ascenso, Mexico's second division, in the fall and twice got the team into the title game. Each time, Dorados fell short to Atletico San Luis, which earned promotion to Liga MX.

While Maradona's contract expires in June of this year, he said he'd be willing to sign a new deal should owner Jorge Alberto Hank give him a war chest and clear out some of the players he no longer wants in the squad.

"I'm asking them for a two-year project with a budget to buy players I like," Maradona told Univision after meetings with club directors in Culiacan last week. "I also have to clean out the players who aren't currently going with the type of game we play." 

The manager said he'd like to press on but wouldn't be offended if he and the club can't reach a deal. He reportedly also has interest from a pair of clubs in the first division in his native Argentina with Newell's Old Boys and Belgrano looking for a coach.

"If 'Jorgito' tells me that we can't arrive at something, as good as friends as always, I'll leave Culiacan with the best memory in the world," Maradona said.

Maradona also said he wouldn't apologize for his outspoken political views. He was fined an undisclosed amount by the league in April after dedicating a victory to embattled Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

"Wherever I am, I’m going to keep loving Cuba and loving Venezuela. If you like it, good. If not, sorry," he said. "Because I’m Maradona I’m not going to say it? On the contrary, I’ll put on a shirt and tie and say it again, OK?"

He expressed frustration with the fact that he has been denied a visa to enter the United States since failing a drug test during the 1994 World Cup but said he would rather get into the country to attend the Super Bowl than talk politics with current president Donald Trump.