Roman Return

By: cathal | July 7th, 2009

Lazio are back at work which means I am now full-time on the blog again. Nothing excites me more than a new season and with a new coach, a new project and ultimately, a ‘new’ Lazio, there is much anticipation. The players are back training in Formello and by the weekend, they will set up camp in Auronzo di Cadore and prepare for the latest adventure. In the meantime, I’ll draw your attention to a few things you may or may not have missed over the last few days.

As I said, the players have returned to the capital and you can see their arrival here. As you will notice, the squad is colossal and much needs to be done to address this. Some exits may be on the cards. Sampdoria have confirmed an interest in Zauri and Stendardo. Felipe Melo is about to leave Fiorentina for a significant amount of money and that paves the way for them to bid for Ledesma. Also, Zenit appear to be desperate to land Pandev and Carrizo looks set for Zaragoza. So, there could be quite a few big names on the way out for lump sums in the next few days.

As for players coming in, Marko Arnautovic (see video above), the 20 year-old Austrian who currently plays for Twente is back on our radar after his move to Inter fell through. Matuzalem should become permanent in the next few days but other than those two, the well is drying up somewhat. Tottenham’s young winger, Abel Taarabt and Leverkusen’s Chilean starlet, Arturo Vidal have also been mentioned but it remains to be seen how far our ‘interest’ extends. Ballardini, in a recent TV interview, denied any interest in signing Simplicio or Oliveira so our target count is dwindling. You can read the rest of that interview (in Italian) here.

The new shirts should be unveiled tomorrow and they are expected to be every bit as hideous as we thought. A meeting did take place, our negative thoughts were taken into consideration but ultimately, and for whatever reason, there is nothing the club can really do. Feel free to bombard Puma and make your feelings known but it is unlikely they will pay much attention. We can only hope for a miracle and as soon as those shirts are revealed, I will post the design here. The other issue which will be resolved in the immediate future is who goes to Auronzo. That may give us a clearer indication as to who is on the verge of leaving. Again, when these details are announced, I will do a new post.