"The Stadio Olimpico was not a happy place just after 3pm on Saturday afternoon. Lazio were losing at home to Torino, who had been outscored by their previous five league opponents by a combined 10 goals to two. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up the latest protest in their neverending feud with the club's owner, Claudio Lotito. Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or had there never been a thread holding it together in the first place?"
"They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say Lotito had swindled him. The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby."
"At least one man kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio this season. He spent the last one on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to stay there a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad without replacements. He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy."
"He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him. Perhaps the manager was still trying to work out the nature of the player's talent."
Lazio confronted unrest at the Stadio Olimpico amid protests from the Curva Nord and a worrying home defeat to Torino. The club reappointed Maurizio Sarri but failed to inform him about an impending transfer ban for financial irregularities, prompting Sarri to accuse owner Claudio Lotito of swindling him. Results were erratic, with heavy wins over Verona and Genoa offset by multiple defeats including the Rome derby. The transfer ban prevented squad reductions, leading to Matteo Cancellieri remaining at Lazio despite prior loans; Cancellieri had often been used as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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