It has taken quite a while for Claudio Lotito to break the stubborn and relatively new Serie A club Sassuolo. However, as has been par for the course, Lotito gets what Lotito wants. That came in a 12 million euro deal (10 million euros, plus 2 million euros in bonuses) for Italian center-half Francesco Acerbi. The defender has finally arrived in Lazio territory, and will soon be moving forward with his medical examinations. Hopefully, all goes well with the Italian and we see a quick adaptation to Simone Inzaghi’s ‘3-at-the-back‘ system.
Acerbi’s agent, according to GianlucaDiMarzio.com, has said he is “happy with the choice” and that he allegedly said “yes” to Lazio immediately, revealing that the Acerbi move to Lazio was inevitable due to Acerbi himself, heavily pushing for the move. Acerbi brings experience to a defense that lacks just that. Last season, Lazio landed outside the top 10 in terms of defending, despite having the best offense in the league. Hopefully that changes with the 30-year-old player in our starting 11.
The only negative with this transfer is that we did not sign a player like Acerbi quicker. It would have been nice to have the center-back more ingrained in Lazio’s aggressive soccer system, as most defenders in Serie A are not accustomed to Inzaghi’s 3-5-1-1. There will surely be areas Acerbi will need work on to master his role.
Though Acerbi does seem to have a ‘leader trait’ to him, at 30-years of age, he commands an impressive following and thus far most calcio followers have been praising Lazio for the signing, something not incredibly common during the past transfer window. Beyond the pitch we can expect to see a more mature Lazio side, and more importantly a role model for the younger players.
Do you feel Acerbi fills the De Vrij gap? Who else between Diego Reyes, Caleta-Car, and other potential targets do you think Lazio should sign? Start the conversation and let us know!
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