Sarri ‘would have walked away’ from any club, except Lazio

Maurizio Sarri is aware Lazio will ‘suffer’ this season, but admits he would have left ‘any other club’ with a transfer ban, but not the Biancocelesti.

Lazio were not allowed to make any summer signings for financial reasons, but Sarri was informed about the embargo only after he had signed a two-year contract at the Stadio Olimpico.

“What I’ve done for Lazio, I wouldn’t have done for any other team. I would have walked away from any other club that told me the transfer market was closed after I signed the contract,” the Italian said at a press conference on Saturday via Sky Sport.

“Here, I had serious doubts about leaving despite the difficulties, and that strength hasn’t left me. I still firmly believe I can help this group grow. I haven’t spoken with the club. The sporting director told me we’ll probably be able to operate in the transfer market in January, but I don’t have any official confirmation.

“We’re improving in training. Hopefully, that will be enough.”

Lazio will visit Atalanta on Sunday.

“Our campaign will be one of suffering,” said Sarri.

“We need to be humble even in the way we think. Juric’s Atalanta is similar to Gasperini’s Atalanta. There are just minimal differences. Our situation becomes more difficult as time goes on. We need the humility to accept the struggle, but we must not confuse humility with accepting defeat.”

As if the transfer embargo was not enough, Sarri’s Lazio are also dealing with injuries to several key players, including Valentin Castellanos, Nicolò Rovella and Mattia Zaccagni.

“We’ve done every kind of analysis, and many of the injuries are recurring ones,” said the coach.

“Dia has had a problem for three years. Pellegrini’s injury is a traumatic one; Marusic has had a flare-up of an old scar. Our players’ conditions are all borderline cases, and it’s hard to predict how many minutes they can handle. Obviously, some players will have to be brought in.”