Romagnoli’s agent hits out at Lazio over failed Al-Sadd move and unpaid wages

Alessio Romagnoli’s agent Enzo Raiola explains how the defender’s move to Al-Sadd fell through and reveals that Lazio owe wages from previous months.

Romagnoli’s proposed transfer to Al-Sadd collapsed last week, and the defender is destined to terminate the current campaign at Lazio.

The Serie A side officially blocked the defender’s transfer on January 25, but negotiations continued in the following days.

‘No future at Lazio,’ says Romagnoli’s agent

“The player has understood that there’s no future at Lazio. There was never a proposal to extend the contract, and the club still has to pay several past wages,” Raiola told Sky Sport.

“We continued negotiations even after the unexpected statement from the President. Al-Sadd had sent a formal offer, but Lazio never replied.

“Alessio told Sarri that he wanted to move to Qatar. Over the last year and a half, he’s realised that there’s no future at Lazio and he’s told me more than once that the last Italian club he’ll play for are the Biancocelesti. He’s expressed his desire to play abroad.

“There was never an offer to extend,” Raiola continued.

“After the qualification for the Champions League, we expected a call from the club, because promises were made when Alessio had signed his contract. It’s been three and a half years, I think we can forget this call.”

Romagnoli’s agent explained that Lazio and Al-Sadd, coached by ex-Italy boss Roberto Mancini, ultimately found an agreement on January 31, but it was too late as the winter transfer window in Qatar closed on that day.

“At that moment, there was no time to sign the contract,” Raiola said.

“We still don’t understand why some of the wages have not been paid; it’s quite frequent in Italy, and this becomes a blackmail against the players, because when they accept being on the market, they must also give up wages that have not been paid. We did not understand this condition.”

Romagnoli was not called up for Lazio’s last Serie A match against Genoa as he had not trained with the rest of the team after the Biancocelesti initially refused to sell him.

His contract expires in June 2027, but it’s hard to imagine him staying at the Olimpico beyond the current campaign. Raiola said that his client wants to continue playing for at least six more years.

“He’s training and will continue his path at Lazio. He’s a professional, so he’ll continue the season here,” concluded Raiola.

“He could have taken a firmer hold of the situation, but instead, he always wanted to seek a relationship, something that had never existed at the top levels of the club. The only people he confronted were director Fabiani and Sarri. We’ll see what the future holds.”