Sampdoria on the brink, Marco Lanna: “I am devastated.”

Sampdoria on the brink, Marco Lanna: “I am devastated.”

These are the most difficult days for Sampdoria, which after relegation faces the specter of bankruptcy. President Marco Lanna in an interview with La Repubblica vented: “I am destroyed, dazed, as well as tremendously sorry for our people, who never stopped singing even in Udine, who supported us all year long, who never contested us. Today I was thinking about Paolo Mantovani and his famous phrase about supporters: as long as they sing, Sampdoria will never have problems. How many reasons he had. Given the moment, I would add: it will survive anything. Here, write it down. For the future I am worried, but there is one certainty: with supporters like that, this club will never die.”

On relegation: “It was announced in a way, yet you never get used to it. It’s like death, you are never prepared. And this is a kind of sporting death, although there are many extenuating circumstances and the difficult conditions under which we worked are there for all to see. Relegation is a giant punch in the stomach. A boulder on my heart, a burden that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”

On the bids for the club: “I answer you as a member of the BoD: we have done everything to create favorable conditions for a buyer, unfortunately we do not have the reins in our hands. The fate depends on others. We have set the table, but now someone has to come and eat. Garrone? However you turn it, the safest lifesaver remains Garrone with his family. He is tied to Samp and can still come out on top, alone or with someone. A savior to thank. One regret? Call me crazy, but this team was not that modest. Everything also turned against us, including referees. Had we beaten Cremonese, we would have played it to the end.”