Luigi Sepe noted his happiness with the move to Lazio and desire to prove himself to Maurizio Sarri after becoming the second-string shot stopper in Rome.
The 32-year-old Italian goalkeeper joined the Biancocelesti on a season-long loan deal from Salernitana, who are paying a portion of his wages. He lost his starting spot in Campania last season to Mexican veteran Guillermo Ochoa.
Sepe has replaced Luis Maximiano as the second-choice option in Sarri’s squad but is expected to leave next summer, when current third-string option Christos Mandas will likely be promoted to the first team.
Speaking at his unveiling press conference (via LazioNews24), Sepe first introduced himself to the club and fans.
I wanted to thank the director for his kind words. I’m happy to be here, I want to help the team day by day.
He touched on his happiness with the move and role under Sarri.
Lazio are a great club, if they call you there is little to think about. I knew the director and the coach, it wasn’t difficult to accept.
Sarri asks to play a lot from the back, but not much has changed over the years.
The 32-year-old spoke about the importance of playing with the ball with his feet.
A goalkeeper today must know how to play with his feet a lot compared to years ago. Sarri asks us a lot, he makes us train on this, we are happy to learn different things every day. Today you often play a lot of balls with your feet and less with your hands.
Sepe spoke about the strengths of Italian goalkeepers.
A department where we are good. There are four very strong goalkeepers called up to the national team. Donnarumma there is little to talk about, he is one of the strongest in the world.
He happens to make mistakes, today every time the goalkeeper makes a mistake the mistake is amplified. Together with the others he helped Italy find victory.
He touched on the strength of the Lazio backline.
Lazio are strong in all departments. Last year’s first leg we won at the Olimpico, the moments changed the course of the match. Lazio’s value is in team play, in individuals, in tactics. Not in individual departments.
The 32-year-old discussed his career and desire to prove himself to Lazio.
Every career is made up of moments. There are situations that can help you at a moment in your career, others that cause delays.
But I’m very happy with what I did. There are always moments to exploit, I hope to do it at Lazio.
Finally, Sepe compared the Biancocelesti to defending champions Napoli.
This team is as strong as Napoli. Then the moments mark a year, we must bring them to our side to take an extra step when needed.
