The team said goodbye to some people yesterday, and are about to say hello to Francelino Matuzalem.

Essentially, the former Napoli and Brescia centrocampista is already a Lazio player, but he has to still undergo a medical on Monday before anything can be finalized. In any case, it now looks like he (and not Fernandez) will be forming the South American connection with Ledesma in the midfield this season, provided, of course, that the doctors don’t find anything wrong with him.

The idea of adding the speedy Fernandez always intrigued me, because let’s face it, the team needed speed like an injured race car driver in withdrawals, but Matuzalem is a very good player, and in the end, a safer choice. He already has a ton of experience playing in Italy, Europe and abroad, and he’s been relatively successful everywhere he’s played.

Put simply, he’s another very strong pickup by the team this summer, in what is already possibly the best mercato of the Lotito-era (celebrating, btw, its fourth anniversary today). My only slight regret is that this kind of transfer activity wasn’t initiated last year, when the team was competing on three fronts…but what the fuck are you going to do? Cry about the past? Forget it, time to move on.

Like Zarate, Matuzalem’s deal is a one-year loan agreement, with a fixed price buyout option at the end of the year. Depending on what you read though, the price is either an incredibly high 15 million Euros, or a more realistic 6-7 mil. I’m inclined to believe the latter number.

If you’re wondering just how Delio was going to sift through the large amount of players now on the Lazio books, don’t. The ranks are already being reduced. First up, Zauri was shipped to Fiorentina on a loan deal, with an option to make it all permanent for 3 million. I’ve always liked Luciano, but following his injury-plagued season, as well as the quick development of Kolarov and Radu (who can play on the left), he was expendable.

As this was going on, newly promoted Bologna ponied up €6m for Gaby Mudingayi. Again, Gaby is a decent, well-liked player, but was he really going to get space competing against Dabo, Matuzalem, Foggia and Ledesma (among others)? Probably not. Either way, Gaby might not have to make the move to the Emilia-Romagna club alone, as reports are claiming that former Juve target Guglielmo Stendardo might also end up at Bologna, most likely on loan. We’ll have to see what happens in the next few days.

Meanwhile, Valon “faccia di schiaffo” Behrami has finally found a place to play. The Swiss International underwent a medical with West Ham two days ago and is more or less guaranteed to be playing at Upton Park next season. The only stumbling block to the move is the amount of compensation for Lazio. The Biancoceleste want 3 million pounds, and West Ham is offering 1.5 million. I suspect they’ll meet somewhere in the middle.

Also, Artipoli has moved to Modena on loan, and the team is said to be working things out for Baronio to move to Valladolid.

First up is news that the team has signed Swiss international Stephan Lichtsteiner.

The 24-year old right-back is essentially taking up the roster spot left opened by the departure of another Swiss international (Valon Behrami), and will reportedly be used as a back-up to De Silvestri. All told, the operation cost 1.8 million Euros, and seems to be a solid, if unspectacular signing.

For a peak at Lichtsteiner (if you didn’t notice him at the Euros that is), here he is scoring a goal for Lille:

And here he is getting a kiss from (Why do you think they call me) Kim Kallstrom:

Elsewhere, the team has been linked with former Napoli and Brescia midfielder, Francelino Matuzalem. Personally, I would prefer Fernandez for the midfield, and I’m a little worried that this would be the end of that idea. That said, Matuzalem is a good player still in his prime (28 years old), and pretty much exactly what we need: another player that can take Ledesma’s role in the midfield. Whether or not this is early preparation for Cristian’s eventual departure is hard to say, but either way, Matuzalem would be a nice addition.

The team hasn’t yet entered negotiations with Saragozza, but apparently, there is both strong interest from the Biancoceleste, and “all the elements in place for a transfer“. We’ll see what develops in the next few days.

In the meantime, here’s a goal Matuzalem scored with Napoli:

A collection of goals he scored with Shakhtar Donetsk:

And either the greatest goal ever, or the best recorded display of luck on a football field:

Avanti Lazio.

You can buy these here at the newly launched Lazio store.

The only problem with this photo? Pandev started making a lot of noise today about leaving the team at the end of this upcoming season. It seems he’s not happy with the way his contract renegotiation is going, claiming that “Lotito insists on renewing my contract, but at the same time he doesn’t listen to my conditions.” Hardcore sigh on all that, but I think this is more of a ploy to put pressure on Lotito.

We’ll see what happens.

Pandev, for what it’s worth, is expected to get a contract similar to Rocchi’s (roughly 1.3 million a year etc).

For photos of the shirt presentation in Valmontone, check out this gallery.

Elsewhere, died in the wool Lazio fan Giampiero Pinzi is apparently very close to joining his hometown team. The Udinese (and former Lazio youth) midfielder was at first mentioned as a flat out transfer target, but has also been listed as part of a potential swap for Stendardo. Pinzi, of course, is not an earth-shattering signing, but it’s always good to have Laziale in the team.

Speaking of which, team captain Tommaso Rocchi Balboa was named to the Italian Olympic team last week, and as the token old guy, he’ll be teamed up with Giuseppe Rossi and Giovinco up front. Sounds good to me, even if it’s going to take something special to beat out the Argentinians. Christ what a team!

Here’s Italy’s provisional group in full. It also includes De Silvestri, who I think will really impress if he gets the chance to start:

Abate Ignazio (Milan), Acquafresca Robert (Cagliari), Bocchetti Salvatore (Genoa), Cadreva Antonio (Udinese), Cigarini Luca (Parma), Coda Andrea (Udinese), Consigli Andrea (Atalanta), Criscito Domenico (Genoa), De Ceglie Paolo (Juventus), De Silvestri Lorenzo (Lazio), Dessena Daniele (Parma), Giovinco Sebastian (Juventus), Marchisio Claudio (Juventus), Montolivo Riccardo (Fiorentina), Motta Marco (Udinese), Nocerino Antonio (Palermo), Ranocchia Andrea (Arezzo), Rocchi Tommaso (Lazio), Rossi Giuseppe (Villarreal), Russotto Andrea (Treviso), Sirigiu Salvatore (Città di Castello), Viviano Emiliano (Brescia).

Lastly, the Biancoceleste will be playing a series of friendlies starting in July, which given the amount of changes to the lineup, should be important (if not always competitive) matches.

Here’s the schedule so far (subject to change… in fact, I believe there’s a tussle with Porto before the Liverpool contest):

July 16 - Bellunese Representative XI (H)
July 19 - Auronzo (H)
July 23 - Slavia Prague (H)
July 26 - Padova (H)
July 30 - Gaziantespor (H)
August 8 - Liverpool (A)
August 12 - PAOK (H) - Official presentation game.

For those who need visual evidence before believing anything, cast your eyes on these pics of the man himself in Rome.

The glamor photo:

Meeting fans:

And the press with Lotito:

If that’s not enough, you can even hear him speaking at the press conference. Here is a link to about a minute’s worth of audio from the media presentation.

How big is this? Pretty insanely huge if Carrizo plays anywhere near what he managed in Argentina this year. Put simply, he’s exactly what the team lacked last season, a ballsy, confident to damn near daredevil-like keeper who can not only make big saves, but also inspire his team.

Here’s a clip to give you an idea of what we’re getting (namely a fucking beast):

As expected, Carrizo said all the right things today, especially in regards to the Rome derby. “When I was a baby it was my dream to play in a Boca-River derby, and now I want to win the two Rome derbies, that is my dream,” he said.

Can’t wait for the season to start…

Here are some pics from his arrival at Fiumicino:

Another youtube comp:

And a short American profile (with apologies for the Beckham ad):

He will, by the way, be given the number 9 shirt that Rolando Bianchi wore last season. Let’s hope it suits him better.

Meanwhile, the team very quietly signed another young player today, a striker named Libor Kozak. A little while back, Lotito mentioned that he was working on picking up a young foreign born striker, someone under the radar but very promising, an operation he said, that was similar to what got us Kolarov. Well, it seems he did it.

The 19-year-old Kozak is something of a giant at 6′4, and unsurprisingly he’s already drawn comparisons to both Luca Toni and fellow Czech Republic countryman Jan Koller. He spent most of last season playing with SFC Opava, a second division team, but he was a regular selection of the national under 19 team, and had a one week trial with Porstmouth this year.

All in all it seems like a very solid signing, and one that makes good on the promise of following the “Arsenal model” of team building, as well as Lotito’s financial prudence (it only cost 1.2 million Euros).

First up, the new jerseys for this season were unveiled a little while back, so I thought I should put up a pic. There’s no sponsor yet (Edileuropa were on the shirt for the second part of last season), so it looks a bit plain for the time being, but if you’re like me, you can take this opportunity to order one with nothing but the team logo on it. Sweet.

Nothing too drastically different on the first shirt, but it’s subtle and pretty sharp looking. The second and third shirts have collars, which I’ve always liked (maybe I’m just old school?). Not sure about the yellow yet though. What do you think?

Third shirt (aka the Ref’s jersey):

Over on the transfer side of things, we’re still swimming in Argentinian names. Mauro Zarate is evidently a Lazio player, though it has yet to be finalized. I think there were a lot of Lazio fans who wanted Palacio instead, but frankly, I love this signing. Zarate is just as talented (if not more so), younger, and he’s already had experience in Europe. Love it. Get that shit finalized already and let’s see him in one of those new shirts.

Meanwhile, another Mauro from way down south might be heading our way in the shape of Boca Juniors forward Mauro Boselli. Depending on what source you read, it’s either already signed, sealed and certified, or a complete non-starter. Bope. In any case, it’s tough to know exactly what we’re getting here (aside from the fact that he’s young and promising). He does, after all, have a hard time breaking into the first team at Boca, what with Palacio and Martin Palermo playing ahead of him.

Here’s a clip of one of his goals:

More confusing is the fact that we have what seems to be way too many strikers. Partly this has to do with the fact that the team has 42 players under contract (mind boggling when you consider how cheap Lotito can be), and a whole lot of moves still to be made. I would expect a few players to be sold (Zauri, Stendardo, maybe Mutarelli) and others to be sent out on loan (Inzaghi, Berni, etc), but we’ll have to see where everyone ends up.

As it is, I’m genuinely enthusiastic for the upcoming season. Someone posted a comment the other day about this blog being too negative, and I’m not sure what I think about that. It’s true that I might have allowed some pessimism to creep in during the last season, but Christ, can you blame me? Last season was like being punched in the testicles for an entire year…

In any case, I’m very happy with the moves the team has made so far, and if we can offload some surplus players and bring in another midfielder (namely Augusto Matias Fernandez) I’ll be very confident for the upcoming season.

So far, this would be my starting 11:

CARRIZO

ROCCHI - ZARATE

All in all it’s a much faster, creative team, and the best part is that everyone save Rocchi, Dabo and Rozehnal is 25 or younger (and Rozehnal is only 27).

Fucking Forza Lazio.

Well, I’ve been sitting on this bit of news for the last couple of days, mostly because I didn’t think it was going to lead to anything, but as it turns out, I’m a shit interpreter of news. It seems that the deal for Rodrigo Palacio has hit a bit of a snag, and in all likelihood will not see a resolution until July 7th, at the earliest. So, instead of sitting on his hands and waiting patiently, Lotito has already been looking for someone else. His name: Mauro Zarate.

The 21-year old Argentinian comes from a family of footballers (his brothers are all pros) and just spent a season on loan at Birmingham City in England. Apparently, he was ready to sign a permanent deal there when the team got itself relegated. Nice. All in all he seems more similar in style to someone like Lavezzi than Palacio, but he’s equally intriguing as a partner to Pandev and Rocchi.

The only bitch about all this is that Zarate’s contract is owned by Al Sadd, who want something in the region of 20 million pounds for him. That’s not going to happen. Ever. Lotito, ever the shifty bastard, is offering 2 million Euros for a loan deal, with a fixed buy-out clause that’s about halfway to the overinflated price tag the Arabians have placed on him.

I’m not big on the idea of picking up players on loan, but in this case, it may work out to our benefit. There’s no doubt that Lotito will never spent 40 million on two players, which is what’s causing the Zarate or Palacio reports, but with a loan deal, he could in theory bring both in, and then simply pay off the Zarate deal the following year. Theoretically, this could happen (especially since the team might raise some decent money selling off Zauri, Mutarelli, Stendardo, Berni, Baronio, Belleri, Inzaghi, Diakitè and Bonetto), but we know that in practice, all bets are off with our great president.

Here’s a typically impressive youtube comp of The Zarate Kid:

Avanti Lazio.

Delio didn’t seem convinced of his ability back in 2006 (and in fact, even reportedly fought with him), but he might have changed his tune since then, what with Behrami’s departure and Foggia’s play last season. I wasn’t completely sold on him either, to be honest, particularly when Donadoni tried to shoe horn him into the national team, but there’s no denying that he brings a boat load of energy, something we could have definitely used last year.

Here he is scoring his first Lazio goal back in 2006. Hopefully, there’ll be many more:

There was some more good news yesterday, with Radu’s transfer having finally been made official . The completed move makes the talented 21-year old a permanent Lazio player, and gives us a decent core of young defenders, with Radu, Kolarov, Tuia and De Silvestri all under contract, and Cosmin Moti reportedly on the way.

There had been reports that Manchester United were trying to get their dirty little paws on Radu last month, but thankfully that didn’t lead to anything, and the incredibly promising Romanian is ours for now (and hopefully much longer).

Here’s a clip of his performance against Inter:

Forza Lazio.

The number being thrown around is 18 million dollars, or roughly 12 million Euros, which is quite a chunk of change for the tight-assed Claudio Lotito, but it does give you an idea of the quality of player we’re talking about here. Things might come to a head soon, as Palacio is meeting with Boca Juniors president Pompilio today to discuss the offer, and give Lazio an official response (at least reportedly).

Let’s hope for the best, because Rodrigo would look incredible playing with Pandev and Rocchi.

Here’s a youtube comp (with apologies for the Robbie Williams soundtrack):

The never-ending Behrami case also reared its ugly head again yesterday, with the Swiss international being linked with a move to Palermo again. Depending on who you believe, the return will now either be cash and Mark Bresciano, or cash and Fabio Simplicio. I don’t mind either of these players, but apparently, Delio has his heart set on Simplicio.

I’m getting tired of writing about rumors, so hopefully something real happens soon.

Stay tuned.