Lazio, Luis Alberto does not leave for Birmingham

Lazio, Luis Alberto does not leave for Birmingham

Luis Alberto did not leave for Birmingham with Lazio playing a friendly against Aston Villa tomorrow night. The Spanish midfielder is in dispute with the club over contractual issues and also did not train yesterday at Formello. At the end of July he had vented on Instagram, saying there is a point beyond which “patience ceases to be a virtue”: he was waiting for a tweak promised to him by the club, which was late in coming.

The agency that looks after his interests, YouFirst, explained to Sky Sport, “We will not allow speculation or question Luis Alberto’s respect for his club. Both Luis Alberto and we have communicated on several occasions since the end of the championship the existence of a formal offer from an Arab club quadrupling his contract, and throughout this time the player has been clear and firm in his decision to sign a new contract with Lazio, in tune with the deal offered by the president. And it is absolutely not true that he asked that any amount outstanding or accrued in the past be paid.”

For reasons unknown, YouFirst adds, “the final agreement with the strictly agreed conditions, to date, has never arrived. At all times there has been and will continue to be respect and readiness to formalize this agreement as agreed. It is a situation that we do not understand why it has not been resolved, having had to wait day after day for events when everything was quite clear.”

This is the conclusion: “A club like Lazio deserves the respect that a player like Luis has shown and we realize that speculating on rewards and details of the contract is absurd when the only reality is that for weeks Luis Alberto has been waiting for his signing day with great desire.”