Romagnoli departure raises serious red flags as Lazio teeter on brink of catastrophe

For a while now, Lazio have come across a bit like having a walk along the beach and spotting a child sat on the edge of a cliff.

With an irresponsible parent, in this case Lotito, the club have been left to their own devices and now appear perilously close to a total collapse.

The latest blow for Lazio fans comes as Alessio Romagnoli appears close to a reported €7.5 million switch to Qatari side Al Sadd, coached by Italy icon Roberto Mancini.

Whilst selling a 31-year-old for a profit, Romagnoli having joined the Biancocelesti on a free from Milan in 2022, is not an inherently bad thing, it is more about what the centre-back represents.

Romagnoli exit raises questions at Lazio

Romagnoli is a boyhood Lazio fan and joined to much fanfare when he left Milan.

After having been a regular player for many years for the Rossoneri, playing nearly 200 times for the club in Serie A, his move to the team he supported as a child looked like a major win for everybody involved.

Lazio picked up one of the most experienced centre-backs in the league and Romagnoli got to play for his boyhood side. The fans benefited from both of these factors, eager to see players who want to play in the shirt.

Now, Lazio are losing this. If Romagnoli completes his anticipated move to Al Sadd, the club lose an experienced, passionate and determined part of the squad.

Furthermore, it leaves the Roman side strapped for options in defence, especially with Spanish centre-back Mario Gila also strongly linked with a potential exit in the summer. Nicolo Casale was sold to Bologna in the summer and at the moment, 32-year-old duo Samuel Gigot and Patric are both out through injury.

Therefore, Romagnoli’s exit will leave the club with just Gila and Oliver Provstgaard fit for the meantime – and Gila’s departure approaching on the horizon.

The club will have to reinvest but given Lazio president Claudio Lotito’s reluctance to spend, it’s hard to imagine the Biancocelesti will be able to sign a player of Romagnoli’s calibre, quality or experience in the January market.

Lazio rollercoaster continues… so what’s next?

It is impossible to shake the fact that the next six months feels make or break for Lazio.

More importantly, the club must sign additional reinforcements in January, especially as they continue to part ways with players.

So far this window, Taty Castellanos completed a move to West Ham, whilst Matteo Guendouzi left for Fenerbahce. Romagnoli’s exit appears to be up next whilst Matteo Cancellieri has been heavily linked with a move to Brentford, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru is linked with Premier League clubs and Trabzonspor, and Nuno Tavares is reportedly a target of Besiktas.

That means this January could see up to six major squad departures for the Biancocelesti.

On the other hand, the club have spent nearly €30 million so far this window after their transfer embargo was lifted.

Petar Ratkov arrived from Salzburg for €13 million, with the jury out on whether the tall Serbian forward has what it takes to lead the line as the club’s number nine.

Kenneth Taylor arrived from Ajax, in what appears to be as a replacement for Guendouzi, aiming to fill the more attacking-minded role in Sarri’s midfield three.

But so far this have been mere solutions to solve impending crises, rather than building on the strength of the team. So far this window, Lazio have not got any better, they have just replaced one set of doubts with another.

The club need reinforcements in all areas of the pitch but it is unrealistic to imagine Lotito will open up his wallet to grant Sarri a whole new roster.

The Sarri dilemma and the coach’s role in preventing collapse

Maurizio Sarri himself is a whole other matter entirely.

The coach has done a good job so far, considering the limited resources at his disposal since his return to Lazio, but his position has never felt entirely secure.

Whether it was the drama in the summer, when Sarri returned to the capital but was reportedly not informed about the full extent of Lazio’s market embargo. Speculation in the Italian press suggested the coach was ready to walk immediately but he stuck around and has guided Lazio to a respectable 9th place so far.

Furthermore, there is a section of the fanbase that believe Sarri is overhyped, with the statistics showing that his second stint has had no marvellous win rate or underlying statistics to give Lazio any real benefit of having him at the helm. In fact, some believe he is holding them back with his rigid structure and lack of tactical flexibility.

The truth of the matter is this: Lazio have been on a downward spiral since Simone Inzaghi left to take over at Inter. After Inzaghi, came the eventual exodus of the trio that had helped propel many of the club’s fortunes under the now-Al Hilal head coach, in Luis Alberto, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ciro Immobile.

Despite losing these three talismanic stars, the club have never properly replaced them. Half-baked efforts at signing new centre-forwards has always disappointed, whilst the midfield seems to be desperately crying out for a player with the creativity of Alberto or the drive of Milinkovic-Savic.

If there was ever a time for Lotito to invest in the club, it has to be now. Lazio are screaming out for some real high-calibre players, because right now the squad is underwhelming and Sarri cannot be expected to perform miracles.