Lazio loanee Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro reflected on his time working with Maurizio Sarri and why he chose to join Empoli.
The 29-year-old Ivorian midfielder hardly featured last season in Rome, making only 10 Serie A appearances across the campaign, with the majority of these appearances coming in the first half of the year. Akpa Akpro was sent to Empoli on loan on transfer deadline day, where he’ll undoubtedly find more playing time.
Speaking in a press conference (via LazioNews24), Akpa Akpro first gave his thoughts on Lazio coach Sarri and the way he works with his players.
Mister Sarri speaks little, he didn’t tell me anything. But he helped me a lot, as did the other Lazio midfielders.
And you can see it with Milinkovic-Savic and Cataldi. I also grew with him and, as I said before, I want to show Empoli that they did well to sign me.
The 29-year-old Ivorian midfielder then commented on the difficulty of finding a new team this summer.
It was difficult for me to find a team and when the possibility of coming came up, I had no doubts. Empoli are a team that can help me grow a lot.
Finally, Akpa Akpro underlined his happiness in Serie A and why he decided to join Empoli.
Serie A is a good league, as a child I always wanted to play here. Now I have the chance to show that I can do it, so I will try to do the best for Empoli. I’m mainly a mezzala, a player who can go box to box.
I want to help the team win. For me, it’s a new aspect, at Lazio I wasn’t among the oldest. So I have to bring my experience to the team.
Ours is a team with quality that can definitely avoid relegation. I’m not saying easily, but we showed with Salernitana and Verona that we can do well.
During his two years with Lazio, Akpa Akpro made 55 appearances across all competitions, scoring one goal and providing one assist.
Thank you for all you done Akpa and hopefully you can have a good season and come back strong for Lazio! Dajeeee ❤️