Lazio Look to Get Hernanes
Flush with cash from the sale of Aleksandar Kolarov, Italian club Lazio are looking to bolster their midfield with the capture of highly rated box-to-box Brazilian midfielder Hernanes.
Newspaper Il Corriere dello Sport is reporting that Igli Tare, Lazio’s director of sport, has flown to South America for a meeting with Sao Paulo’s directors to complete the transfer. Tare will be trying to bring down the demands of the Brazilian team, who reportedly want £12.5 million for their prized possession. Lazio have thus far offered £7.5m, however, Agustino Penha, one of Hernanes’ agents, believes the two teams will soon meet in the middle. “Sao Paulo want £12.5 million, but if Lazio offer £10 million, the deal could go through,” he said.
The 25 year-old Brazilian midfielder is widely regarded as one of the best players in South America and was named Brazilian Footballer of the Year in 2008. In 2009, he came out on top of The Times’ list of the most promising players in the world.
This would represent something of a coup for Lazio, who have operated under tighter financial controls for much of the last ten years. Current Lazio defender, Andre Dias, played with Hernanes for four years at Sao Paolo, and he was quick to comment on the quality his former and potentially future teammate would add to the team: “Hernanes is a versatile player. He can play with both feet. He can play as an attacking midfielder and he is very strong,” Dias said, adding that while comparisons to Kaka are warranted, “Hernanes defends better than Kaka.”
Dias might also have played a part in attracting the promising player to the Roman team, as he has been in contact with Hernanes. “I spoke to him three or four weeks ago,” he said. “He asked me about Lazio and I told him that they are a good club, who fight for third or fourth place in Serie A, for the Champions League or the Europa League.
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In the last few years, Hernanes has been linked with Chelsea and Milan, among a host of other well-known teams. Should Lazio manage to land the player, they will have fought off competition from as many as 10 prominent European squads, including French club Lyon, Spanish team Villareal, and fellow Italian side Palermo.
Palermo, in fact, just recently withdrew their interest in the player, after the Brazilian team rejected a £10 million offer. This sparked a typically caustic response from outspoken Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini. "I think that players we have here are worth three times more than Hernanes," he told Italian football website, TuttoMercatoWeb.com.
Sao Paulo are at the moment in the thick of the Copa Libertadores, which ends in August. Should Hernanes sign with Lazio, then, he would only be able to join the capital side at the end of that month.
In the meantime, Lazio president Claudio Lotito will be focusing on re-signing Christian Ledesma, which may prove to be a tricky prospect. Much like Goran Pandev, Ledesma was famously frozen out last season after rejecting a contract extension. However, unlike the Macedonian striker, who eventually moved to Inter on a free transfer, Ledesma was brought back into the fold by coach Edy Reja in the second half of the season. Fittingly, Reja is confident that an agreement will soon be reached.
“The talks with the club seem to be going well and the distance between the two parties is minimal,” Reja told Tuttosport. “From what I am aware if he wants to find an agreement, then the club is more than available to make it happen.”
Reja has said he intends on using a 3-5-2 formation this season, with Francelino Matuzalem – who has recovered from an injury that forced him to miss most of last season – playing the trequartista, or playmaking, role. Should the deals for Ledesma and Hernanes work out, then, the players would flank Matuzalem in the center of the midfield, and provide Lazio fans with the kind of engine room they have not seen since the glory days of Veron, Simeone and Nedved.
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