Former Lazio Star Opens Up on Hellish Lotito Talks & Botched Man Utd Transfer | OneFootball

I was recommended by my current coach, Besnik Hasi, who was Anderlecht’s assistant at the time, to Igli Tare, who, after a match where we beat Bruges, came to tell me that the following year I’d be a Lazio player. But the negotiations were exhausting. I spent 18 days holed up in a hotel in Rome. Lotito didn’t want to pay the two million in commissions, only the seven million for the transfer, so somehow we had to find that money. They organised a friendly between Anderlecht and Lazio in Belgium, which I didn’t play in, and the rest of the money, about 400,000 euros, had to be put up by me and my agent. But that wasn’t the end of it, because when I went to sign at Lotito’s house – and I won’t even tell you how long he made me wait – after I’d signed, he turned to Tare and said: ‘And who’s this?’ He didn’t even know who I was. My wife arrived in Rome on 14th August and two weeks later my son was born. The arrival was hellish, but the departure was maybe even worse.

I came in for a lot of criticism from the fans because I wanted to leave. That was because in 2015, I’d received an offer from Manchester United, when (Louis) Van Gaal was there. Lotito told me he’d never let me go, and I agreed to stay on the condition that we renewed my contract. Marcelo Bielsa was about to arrive. I was promised a new contract, but it never materialised.” Lotito would call me to Formello at midnight. He’d sit down, eat, and then fall asleep. Meanwhile, Tare would tell my agent to talk to him anyway, as he’d be listening, and when we got to the subject of the pay rise I’d been promised, he’d wake up and say he couldn’t do it because it would make the other players jealous, or that he couldn’t because of FFP rules.

I’d already signed a pre-contract with Milan in January, because I’d decided to leave even though Inzaghi wanted me to stay. I thanked him but told him I was 31 and after the failed contract renewal, I’d be going to Milan, who were about to change ownership. There was a standoff because Lotito wouldn’t respond to the offer by email and wanted me at Auronzo for pre-season. In the end, I turned up at the training camp at night, and the next day, there were 5,000 fans ready to insult me. And usually, it was families there, not the ultras, who didn’t know anything about the situation. The next day, I went to Formello to sign the contract termination – they still owed me three months’ wages and the Europa League qualification bonus. But one of Lotito’s assistants worked so hard to deny me those payments that I left without collecting any of them. And my agent is still giving me grief about it. But I just couldn’t take it anymore.

My first year at Lazio was about adapting, but then I think I had three excellent seasons. I remember that brace against Fiorentina, the only one of my career. And despite the complicated and painful farewell, I’ll never close the door, because if one day Lotito calls me to coach Lazio, of course I’ll go.

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