Lazio president Claudio Lotito insists that he doesn’t want to sell Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, but he also won’t keep a player against his wishes. The Biancocelesti patron was speaking with La Gazzetta dello Sport about the upcoming season, and Lazio’s plans to make themselves competitive, touching on the future of certain key players and his plans to make the team competitive:
President Lotito, Lazio begins the season after finishing 2nd in the league. So far it has remained as it was: zero purchases, zero sales. What signal is that?
“It’s a sign that I had a lot of things to do, including campaigning in Molise. Now I am devoting myself to the business of the team. I have clear ideas.”
What are these ideas?
“Lazio will be reinforced: let’s start here. Functional elements will arrive to increase the competitiveness of the group, we will have a larger roster. We know what we have to do, we have talked about it.”
Also with Sarri, of course.
“Of course, we would miss him. Then it is clear that at Lazio I decide and I sign. I have a shortlist of names for every role we need to fill, with various alternatives. I will choose who to take, but on one issue there is no doubt: players will come, as always. Do you know how many I took last year? Fourteen. Are they few?”
Fourteen between winter and summer markets.
“That’s right, in calendar year 2022. Can’t believe it? I’ll tell you all of them: Casale, Romagnoli, Maximiano, Provedel, Marcos Antonio, Cancellieri, Vecino…. How many are we at?”
There are those who claim that Sarri is not happy with Lazio’s immobility.
“Inference. With Sarri there is harmony, and where there is harmony there is wealth. It is no coincidence that we came second in A. Second, I say: what are we talking about? And not because Juve was penalized, we would have been anyway, even if they had those ten more points. They said we would have finished ninth, tenth….”.
How important was Sarri?
“Sarri is the conductor, and the conductor matters a lot: if he makes a mistake, everyone plays on their own. I was talking about harmony: he is the one who gives it. Certain results are achieved only with the effort of all components: coach, players, club, medical staff.”
If the coach conducts the orchestra, what does the president do?
“He makes the decisions, he chooses.”
You put in Sarri’s hands a staff that allowed him to put his ideas into practice.
“We played with a 3-5-2, two years ago we dismantled the team and handed him one adapted to the 4-3-3. And everything right away, without wasting time. That’s how it’s done.”
Fans fear major sales, you also have Champions League this year.
“A team that wins doesn’t change, it integrates. And we will integrate. There is always talk about players to buy, but not selling them is also crucial.”
Does that mean you will not sell Milinkovic-Savic either?
“I would not sell him, in fact I am trying to renew his contract. But a contract is the meeting of the will of all parties…. Surely Lazio to buy does not need to sell (like Roma and Inter, ed.). And this is important: not everyone can do it, on the contrary…. If a player will be lost to us, it will not happen because we have to make money.”
Why, then?
“Technical choices, personal decisions, relationships count. Then, if one wants to leave, I don’t keep him.”
Has Milinkovic-Savic told you that he wants to leave?
“Not to me, he hasn’t said that. He’s been with us for eight years, that’s a lot. Do you know that in September Lazio paid January salaries? I say: in September the January salaries. No club not in Italy, but in the world has done such a thing. Why does he have to leave? The players with us are happy, they have everything.”
What do you mean by everything?
“Nobody has a sports center like ours in Formello, for example. Infantino told me that too, who had dinner with us. And I have created an extraordinary medical facility; there are seventeen specialists working at our place. Our dentist, for one thing, is also a gnathologist. And then I have the podiatrist…. About everything.”
You went from Milinkovic-Savic to gnathologist. Back to Sergej: Is he also ready to take him to contract expiration? He would lose out on some money.
“There is too much emphasis on money, neglecting the man. It is a wrong mentality. According to these ideas, a doctor who gets two thousand euros per visit is a phenomenon because it costs so much. And those who go to be missionaries in Africa without taking a penny are what, jerks?”
How sorry were you that Tare left?
“On a personal level very much. He spent eighteen years with us. He called me while I was in Molise: ‘president, I decided to leave Lazio despite having gratitude, esteem, affection for you’. What was I to tell him?”
Now who identifies players to be picked up?
“I have in the process of finalizing a scouting center with eight stations, with many people working.”
Do they provide you with information about the players they discover around the world?
“They put me in a position to see them and then choose them. How do I decide who to take if I don’t see them? And I certainly don’t have the time to go around to the stadiums and follow the matches.”
Do you also rely on algorithms to select players?
“We are traditionalists. In a football player we often overlook an essential component: the individual. What does an algorithm know about an athlete’s human values? It can weigh performance, perhaps, not character.”
How many football players do you study?
“Of players there are so many. As of coaches, of d.s. Just as of presidents, there are few. And Italians even fewer.”
Is it true that you are trying to get Berardi?
“I don’t answer market questions. Remember, though: I do not sell dreams but solid realities. Goals are hit, not announced.”
You said Lazio will be reinforced and will grow. Higher than second place there is only the Scudetto: is it possible?
“Everything is possible, history has proven it. At Lazio, Lenzini won it, then Cragnotti succeeded. Leicester beat everyone in the Premier. Unity of purpose, compactness, harmony win. We have them.”
[Image from sslazio.it]
