Hello Goodbye

By: salvatore | July 19th, 2008

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.