Marassi chief Enrico Preziosi explains the reason for selling the Napoli ace; admits that the Argentine has shown amazing growth in last five years.
Genoa chief, Enrico Preziosi, has reflected on the conditions that led to the sale of Ezequiel Lavezzi to San Lorenzo in 2005.
He explained that the player had shown signs of stardom right from his early days.
In an interview with Il Mattino, the Marassi President said:
“Lavezzi already had good qualities back then. We also had Diego Milito in our squad and we couldn’t afford to keep any of them.”
Lavezzi was scouted by the Genoa staff in South America, and they immediately pounced on his signature. However, the striker failed to make an impression at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, and was sold a season later.
The striker was sold to San Lorenzo for mere €1.2 million in 2005. After spending two seasons at the Argentine club, he was signed by Napoli in 2007. El Pocho has become a fan favourite at Stadio San Paolo, and has attracted interest
from few of the top clubs across Europe.
The chief admitted that it's a shame that the Rossoblu had to sell the striker, as he could have stayed for a couple of more years. However, he believes that it would have been difficult to keep him for long, and he would have
eventually moved to one of the Italian giants.
Enrico Preziosi commended Napoli for signing the striker at the right time, and admitted that Lavezzi’s amazing growth has surprised him.
“Napoli made a great swoop. In all honesty, Lavezzi has grown more in these last five years than I would have expected. He can still improve.”
Despite the fact that the player was never a part of the Rossoblu first-team squad, the Marassi chief was all praise for the star, who has grown to be adored like a god at his present club.
“He’s a class player today, he’s made giant steps forward under all aspects of his game.”
The Argentine striker has scored eight goals in his 29 appearances for Napoli this season, and also played a vital role in club’s 3-1 victory over Chelsea in UEFA Champions League recently.
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