Matteo Cancellieri Displays Glimpses of Genius in Silver Lining for Struggling Lazio

The mood at Lazio's home ground was far from happy this past Saturday. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with club owner Claudio Lotito.

A Season Unraveling?

Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been a binding element maintaining its structure in the first place? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, before he publicly stated that the board had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.

The Roman club became as messy on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or collapsing.

The Youngster's Unexpected Presence

A single player continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.

He joined in the first place during Sarri's previous tenure, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, all but one of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."

Discovering His Natural Fit

Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the exact type of his skill set. Labeled as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri yet was deployed for most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn