The Pandev and Ledesma saga continues (don't worry we are close to an end)...Toulouse targets...Aimar...Signori and some interesting stats! Ops, and don't forget that bench…!

12/10:
Inter keeps chasing Goran Pandev. The Macedonian player could join the Nerazzurri in January for a price estimated between 3 and 4 million euros plus another couple of young Inter players from the Inter Reserves team. They could be Marko Arnautovic, who is still struggling to find a form in Milan, and René Khrin, a talented playmaker from Slovenia (this season he played 12 minutes against Parma in Serie A). Or they could be Obi and Joel Chukwuma (1991). Inter definitely needs another forward since Eto’o will miss some fixtures in January (he’s travelling to Angola to play the African Cup of Nations with his native Cameroon) and Balotelli is still not performing as expected. Another option would be to sell Pandev for 7 or 8 million euros.

Juventus is chasing Pandev too, but Inter in the end should prevail since the relationship between Moratti and Lotito is much better than the one the Lazio president has with the Turin outfit. The Bianconeri president, Blanc, said “it’s too early to talk about Pandev now”. The situation reminds of the Dejan Stankovic deal back in 2004. He was 25 at that time and went to Inter Milan to improve even better as a player and as a man, despite Juventus wanting him. What’s more, Pandev would go back to square one since he started in the Inter Reserves team and formed a striking partnership with Obafemi Martins at the time. He could thus be included in the Inter squad for the Champions League as a player who emerged from the youth ranks and not as a non-EU player.

Inter Milan and Fiorentina are on Ledesma’s tracks. Mourinho wants another quality player in midfield but Fiorentina are ready to place an offer when the transfer market reopens in winter. Pantaleo Corvino, director of football in Florence, knows the player well from his spell at Lecce and could easily get involved, despite the relationship between Lazio and Fiorentina boards aren’t very good. Things got worse when in the last match played at Artemio Franchi stadium (0-0), even Florence mayor Renzi accused Lotito and Lazio executives for behaving “in an uncivilized way”. Lotito then replied by saying that the mayor had mistaken him with somebody else. The following day Lazio released an official press release in order to distance themselves from what the mayor had said.

Lazio are fastly approaching goal number 3000 in Serie A. So far, the Biancocelesti have scored
2996 in the top tier since the 1929/30 season (a total of 68 seasons, averaging 44 goals per season), the first round robin championship. Before that, Italian teams were divided into two regional groups and the winners of each group would play the final at the end of each tournament. The first goal in Serie A was scored by Aldo Spivach in Lazio v Bologna (3-0) after 15 minutes into the first half on 6th October 1929. Then, goal number 1000 was scored by “El Flaco” Enrique Flamini in another home game against Legnano (2-0) back on November 18th 1951. Thomas Doll at home against Cagliari in 1992 achieved goal number 2000. Now Lazio are just 4 goals short from reaching another important milestone in their history. Of course Zarate, Rocchi and Cruz are the strongest candidates to reach it before the others. One thing is for sure though: this should happen in another home game!

Lazio will be back in the January transfer market and not just for selling players. Rever from Gremio could join the Biancocelesti and Lazio director of football, Igli Tare, reportedly have set his eyes on two Toulouse midfielders: Etienne Capoue (1988) and Moussa Sissoko (1989). Ledesma may even join Parma if Lazio finds an agreement for a swap with Mcdonald Mariga. Lazio won’t give up in the race for Cagliari central defender Canini, who already played with Ballardini while at Sambenedettese.

13/10:
Arnautovic’s agent claims that his client “won’t leave Inter even if Pandev arrives in January”.

Lazio are working hard to solve out some players’ contract situations. Muslera actually earns 250,000 euros as well as Kolarov and they are the least paid players in the squad. Their agents are trying to find an agreement with Lotito in order to raise their annual salary. They know their clients are now worth more money. Muslera in particular would want to get 1,2 million euros per season and be treated as a top player. His qualities have notably developed at Lazio and maybe Lotito and his agent, Daniel Fonseca, could find an agreement for around 600,000 euros for now.
Other situations regard Dabo, Baronio, Mauri, Siviglia and Cribari. The Frenchman could be back in his native land after the end of the season, while the other three are all very close to sign a new contract with the only Siviglia being a little doubtful: the problem is only his age at the moment.

Muscle soreness for Stefan Radu but Julio Cruz, Mobido Diakité, Seba Siviglia and Pasquale Foggia are all back in training. Simone Inzaghi injured himself on his right thigh while training.

Christian Brocchi could make it for the game against Sampdoria. The former AC Milan midfielder suffered an injury in Boras in the game against Elfsborg in August. After one month and a half then he could be back on the pitch. “We’ll see how the muscle reacts and then take a decision”, he commented.

Gustavo Mascardi, Pablo Aimar’s agent, claimed to have set a date with Lotito in Rome in November in order to discuss about a move of the Argentinian midfielder from Benfica to Lazio. Benfica though said that the player won’t leave the club before June, even if his contract expires in 2011. To have him now, Lazio should pay 20 million euros to breach his contract. Too much money if we consider the 22 that Lotito just recently spent for Zarate.

Did you know?
Lazio will spend 60,000 euros at the end of the year to transport the benches from Formello training ground to the Stadio Olimpico on the day of the game. The reason? The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), which owns the stadium, revamped some areas before the Champions League final. One of the changes was to move back the benches and they are now closer to the Monte Mario stand and they lay on a lower level (like those in Milan). AS Roma accepted the change, but Ballardini wanted to be closer to the pitch so basically Lazio benches keep going back and forth before and after the games. In the Europa League though, it all depends on the Uefa delegate: against Elfsborg he stated that they could be moved closer to the pitch, but against Salzburg he didn’t allow the variation. Juventus coach, Ciro Ferrara, asked to have them set in the “CONI position” and got it. Apparently, leaving them there is not positive for Lazio, since the Roman Eagles lost in both occasions.

Stephan Lichtsteiner so far is the most capped player for Lazio. He played the whole 630 minutes in 7 games in the League, and the whole 360 minutes in 4 games in the Europa League. His form is also being highlighted at international level where Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld nornally allows him to play the full game.

Lazio legend Giuseppe Signori stated the Lazio v Sampdoria will be a tough encounter until the end of the match. He left some incredible memories while playing at Lazio but didn’t do the same while with the Blucerchiati. Basically his non-relationship with Sven-Goran Eriksson brought his Lazio career to an end. He claims that the best coaches he had were Zdenek Zeman and Carlo Mazzone. The team he likes most at the moment in the Italian League is Genoa: “they are able to impose their style even away”.

Sampdoria won’t have suspended defender Gastaldello for Sunday’s encounter. A heavy loss if we consider that, along with international Angelo Palombo, he’s been the most capped player so far for the Blucerchiati. Not even Antonio Cassano played the whole 630 mins, getting 622 under his belt.