Lazio president Claudio Lotito announced the signing of 17-year-old Larsson Koulibaly, an Ivorian teenager who has never played competitive football, as reported by Italian media outlet LazioNews24 yesterday.
The report details how the Biancocelesti visited Koulibaly after hearing about his natural talents and decided to take a chance on the teenager, who arrived in Rome alone from Ivory Coast.
He will now join the Lazio Under-18 squad, coached by Tommaso Rocchi.
Academy manager Mauro Bianchessi discussed the signing when presenting Coulibaly yesterday, saying:
Until a few months ago he had never touched a ball, but we discovered a great talent. He suffered a lot where he lived, he arrived in Rome alone and he has a great strength. I met him by chance.
A good friend of mine who is a social worker told me to give him a personal gift and go and see this boy. We get a lot of reports, but this time I trusted him. It was a joy, a surprise.
He has talent, he has values, he has to learn the language well and settle in, but we registered him after a lot of effort. On 28th December he became a Lazio player with an Italian passport.
When we start playing either on the 7th or in the next few weeks in the Under 18 national league he will join Tommaso Rocchi’s team.
