Lazio defender Alessio Romagnoli linked with Al Sadd move

Lazio defender Alessio Romagnoli has been linked with a move to Qatari champions Al Sadd.

The 31-year-old Italy international, who joined Lazio from AC Milan in the summer of 2022, is reportedly the subject of a €10m bid from the Doha-based club, which is managed by former Italy boss Roberto Mancini.

Romagnoli has grown increasingly disenchanted at his boyhood club since Claudio Lotito, the Lazio owner and president, failed to deliver on an alleged promise to increase his salary in the event of Champions League qualification. While the Biancocelesti finished second in Serie A in the season following Romagnoli’s arrival, the centre-back’s influential contribution went unrewarded.

Alessio Romagnoli: ‘Lazio promises have not been kept’

“There were promises that, until now, have not been kept,” Romagnoli, who took a pay cut on joining the club as a free agent, said last May.

It is understood that the defender, who has made 20 appearances for Lazio this term, is keen on the proposed move, which would earn him an estimated £17.5m over the course of the next three seasons, effectively doubling his existing salary. 

Romagnoli, who has just under 18 months left on his Lazio contract, had hoped to see out his career at the club, according to his agent Enzo Raiola.

‘Alessio wanted to end his career at Lazio – now he’ll go abroad’

“Alessio wanted to end his career here, but Lazio haven’t been in touch for years, and now we’re looking around,” said Raiola. “When he leaves, he’ll go abroad.”

Should Romagnoli leave, however, he could be swiftly followed by Maurizio Sarri. 

The Lazio manager, who was reappointed last summer amid a transfer ban and has already lost Argentina international Valentín Castellanos to West Ham and France midfielder Mattéo Guendouzi to Fenerbahce in the current transfer window, has grown increasingly frustrated by the club’s current trajectory. 

“There’s nothing new under the Lazio sky,” Sarri remarked before Monday’s 3-0 home defeat to Como, which leaves the club ninth in Serie A. “Listen to an interview from two and a half years ago and nothing has changed. Everything is normal.”

While Sarri has nonetheless remained committed to the blue and white cause, it is believed the 67-year-old might reconsider his position in the event of Romagnoli’s departure.