Cancellieri Displays Glimpses of Genius in Bright Spot for Haywire Lazio
The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy during the weekend fixture. Lazio were trailing against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or was there ever a thread maintaining its structure to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, only for him to later acknowledge that the board had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were about to receive for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Roman club became as messy in their performances as off the field, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the rest of their opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
The Youngster's Surprising Return
At least one man kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad without replacements.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His True Position
Perhaps the manager was still trying to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Labeled as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
