Lazio sporting director Angelo Fabiani insists the club intends to finish the journey they started with Maurizio Sarri last summer.
The Background
The 67-year-old returned to the club for a second tenure 15 months following his resignation in March 2024. However, his first season back at the club has been incredibly challenging, marred by a summer transfer ban, mid-season player sales, and an ongoing fan protest against Claudio Lotito.
Angelo Fabiani Comments on Lazio Dynamics
These unpleasant episodes have taken their toll on the relationship between Sarri and the club president, who have been trading barbs in the media. Therefore, many believe that the two men are unlikely to co-exist beyond the end of the season.
Nevertheless, Angelo Fabiani belittled the whole debacle, insisting that this sort of argument is a natural part of the working relationship between a manager and a club president.
The good relationships are also the ones with a bit of conflict. They keep the relationship alive. I see the way we, and Maurizio Sarri, express things as a relationship aimed at improving and pushing one another.
Do we want to call it constructive criticism? Let’s call it that. There is nothing new under the sun, except that Sarrismo is also this.
Fabiani Claims Lazio Want to Keep Sarri Until 2028
Sarri had initially signed a two-year contract with an option for a third year back in June 2025, but this was swiftly turned into a three-year contract in July.
Fabiani highlighted the quick contract renewal as a token of trust from the hierarchy towards the head coach and his collaborators, insisting that the club wishes to keep the Tuscan tactician until the end of the contractual deadline in 2028.
With Sarri we signed a contract that provided for two years plus an additional year as an option, and we even removed that option, for both for him and for his staffm precisely because we believe in Sarri’s project.
We started this new journey with him and we would like to finish it with him.
This is an understandable, but risky statement to make. Sarri’s made no secret that he’s disgruntled.
Building a team around a disgruntled manager who has a history of resigning is a risky move to make… If the plan is to keep Sarri, hopefully Lotito makes it a priority to repair his Sarri WITHOUT offering false promises to him
Lets say Lazio would terminate his contract in the summer, there’s 2 seasons left so gross cost 10 million. Burky replied that it’s Fabiani’s/Lotito’s strategy to make him quit, that indeed is a smarter plan.
Sarri isn’t the right man for the job, but he’s now here and he’s under contract. Lazio isn’t in the financial position to sack the manager and pay another one. Best case scenario would be for Sarri to leave and them to sign a new head coach who earns 1-1.5mil net max.
2mil salary cap would be quite a good plan. Lazio needs to start realising reality, they’ve been living beyond their means for too long a time. 20 years ago Lazio did the same. While focus needs to be getting the stadium deal done.
While Lotito has to somehow fix the relationship with the ultras, within reason.
Why on earth Sarii’s not the man for this task?! That’s just your blunt opinion, facts are way different.
This coach was able to keep the team afloat in one of the worst time ever experienced during the Lotito’s presidency.
Lotito has not being able to funnel more funds in the team in order to avoid June 2025 sanction, which put SS Lazio to be the only European professional team that couldn’t market players.
In January, when sanction was lifted, Lotito sold as many as he could to gain as much as possible in order to fix SS Lazio balance sheet and avoid another sanction in June.
The players he’s bought or loaned, aside for Taylor, are merely bets… those type of bets they’ve mainly lost in these past 5 years.
Sarri has been doing his best, also by changing and adapting his tactical beliefs to what Lotito has given him as players.
100%, and totally agree with you. Sarri is not the manager Lazio needs right now.
My point is, Fabiani publicly backing Sarri is risky. Lotito/Fabiani trying to play mind games with Sarri and the fanbase can backfire greatly for obvious reasons which won’t help the protest.
In the meantime, there’s footy to be played and a team that needs to be rebuilt. Is the plan to bring in players that suit Sarrismo despite the fact that they want him to resign? Or will they bring in whichever players they want, disgruntling Sarri further, and hope that he resigns?
If the Ratkov, Noslin, Reda, etc signings taught us anything, it’s that you need to bring in players that fit the manager’s profile.
For sure, I believe we agree on most things. It’s a shit show.
Sarri must leave… any one else but no sarri
Fabiani thinks we are all stupid, we know Lotito wants Sarri to quit so he doesn’t need to keep him on the payroll. Sarri publicly sided with the fans(understandably) against Lotito and made quite a few jabs as well.
if you wanna keep a stubborn Sarri, why do you signed players who do not fit his style?
@circleplus they don’t want to keep Sarri. They want him to resign, but Sarri is still popular amongst the fanbase. Statements like this from Fabiani, is nothing more than a PR campaign to try and repair the relationship with the fans.
Lotito’s main goal is the stadium. He’s going to sell off as many veteran players as he can, while bringing in young talent for capital gains. He’ll use those funds to lessen the burden of the stadium fees.
Fabiani out
Sarri out!