Lazio market, from Maurizio Sarri the first clues for Napoli and Atalanta

Lazio soccer market: Maurizio Sarri, with the championship over, finds himself in the middle of a potential triangle between the Biancocelesti, old love Napoli and the suggestive challenge Atalanta. The Tuscan coach, however, in the minutes after the victory over Pisa that ended his Serie A season, chose not to comment on any of the rumors concerning him. While giving, not even too indirectly, at least some clues about his future.

“This season has undoubtedly been the most difficult of my career since I have been in Serie A,” Sarri admitted to ‘Sky Sport’. “However, I want to thank Lazio, perhaps not the strongest team I have coached on the technical front, but the best for moral values. I remain under contract and I have no idea what will happen. We will evaluate in the coming days and weeks. I know that I am not too happy, because this year I had the feeling that I was not listened to. But I have a contract, so we’ll see.”

Stuzzled by a question about the prospect of “going back to where he’s already been,” that is, to Napoli, Sarri maintained the same sibylline. “I don’t know. I have a contract with Lazio and it is difficult for me to answer questions like this. If then in the coming days I have no more contracts, then I will make my evaluations,” he said. In addition to the hypothesis of a return to the Azzurri, in the footsteps of the celebrated three-year period 2015-2018, there is also persistent talk of his possible landing at Atalanta. In Bergamo he could find as head of the market Cristiano Giuntoli, with whom he had the opportunity to collaborate precisely in the years on the slopes of Vesuvius.

An attitude, that of Sarri, significantly different from the one held just a few weeks ago. At the end of April, after the sensational 3-3 draw at home with Udinese, the Tuscan coach had closed rather abruptly to the prospect of a return to Napoli: “It’s fantasy soccer. Why is it that when you talk about me it always comes out that I am old? In Serie A there are a couple older than me….”. Words that today sound almost like a chapter already filed, given the speed with which the picture has evolved in recent hours.

On the Napoli front, on the other hand, the situation is far from simple. The Azzurri club, which in recent weeks was considering Antonio Conte’s position, has meanwhile veered firmly towards Massimiliano Allegri: according to reports in the ‘Corriere della Sera’, sporting director Giovanni Manna has already met the Livorno-born coach for dinner in Milan, offering him a two-year contract. Allegri, however, has stalled, with his stay at Milan tied to the outcome of a summit with RedBird’s ownership. Should the Rossoneri meet his demands-including full control over the market and a robust buying campaign-Sarri’s return to Naples would effectively become the main option for De Laurentiis. Otherwise, with Allegri free, the space for the Tuscan coach would shrink further.

On the Biancoceleste front, meanwhile, Claudio Lotito is certainly not waiting. The Lazio patron has already started soundings to identify Sarri’s possible successor, with a shortlist that includes Fabio Pisacane and Thiago Motta. In the last few hours, however, a surprise suggestion has emerged: that of Sérgio Conceição, who as a player had worn the biancoceleste jersey between 1998 and 2000 and then again between 2003 and 2004. The Portuguese could free himself from Al-Ittihad after a disappointing season on the bench of the Saudi club, which ended in fifth place with more than thirty points behind champion Al Nassr, with a record of 21 wins, 7 draws and 13 defeats in 41 games.

Finally, there is no shortage of rumors coming from the Neapolitan fan world. Stefan Schwoch, Napoli’s historic striker with 32 goals in 66 appearances between 1999 and 2000, had already taken a public stance in recent weeks: “If Conte were to leave, I would choose Sarri – he had declared to ‘Radio CRC’ -. He knows the environment and the president well and in Naples he has left a beautiful memory, making them play the best soccer.” Words that perfectly capture the sentiment of a part of the Neapolitan square, still linked to the Tuscan coach by an affection that time has not nicked.