Well-known agent Alessandro Moggi revealed Lazio once had the chance to sign a young Cristiano Ronaldo and that Milan sent in a serious offer for Ciro Immobile.
The Biancocelesti are an oft-frustrating club in the transfer market, rarely making large investments and sometimes struggling to find the right players for the team.
Sporting director Igli Tare has had a number of successes in recent years, like the deals for Luis Alberto and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, but recently has also made a number of disappointing moves, like the €20m investment into Vedat Muriqi and €10m spent on Denis Vavro.
Speaking to Calciomercato.com, Moggi first recalled when Lazio were offered a young Ronaldo.
Mendes was a good friend of Calleri (former Lazio sporting director, ed.), we proposed Cristiano to Cragnotti, but he answered that he didn’t want him, that he would have wanted the ‘real’ Ronaldo, so there wasn’t even a negotiation.
He remembered when Milan sent in a concrete offer for Biancocelesti talisman Immobile.
The year of Yonghong Li, Milan had offered €55 million, but Lotito didn’t let him go. A short time later there was a €50 million proposal from Dalian, in China, who offered the player €12.5 million for five years. But in that case too, Lazio rejected the offer.
And Ciro in both cases willingly stayed at Lazio, he never forced to leave because he is attached to the club and feels an integral part of the project. It is a demonstration that these players have values, and do not always think about money as is often said.
The agent also revealed another backstory from Immobile’s past.
Before Immobile went to Dortmund, the president of Atletico Madrid called me and asked me to bring him to Spain as a personal favour.
Twenty days before we had done a negotiation, then they disappeared, and when they decided to take him I had already given the word to Borussia Dortmund, with whom I was to meet the next day to formalise everything.
Plus, Klopp had spoken to Ciro and wanted him there.
Finally, Moggi confirmed that Lazio were contenders for Giovanni Simeone last summer before he joined Napoli.
Lazio, but the conditions weren’t there. As in all market operations, Napoli were enlightening and managed to close it out. I believe that Giovanni can do even more than what he is showing today.
Coach Maurizio Sarri has often clashed with Tare since his arrival in Rome and is expecting a number of reinforcements to arrive in the summer.
