Roque Santa Cruz set for loan move to Lazio
Roque Santa Cruz is said to be ready to make the switch from English Premier League outfit Manchester City to Lazio on a temporary basis.
According to the striker’s agent, Jan van Baal, the two clubs were locked in lengthy talks over a loan deal for the 29-year-old today.
Reports in Italy today claimed that Lazio will pay City two million euros for the season-long deal and will have the option to buy out his contract for four million euros at the end of the season. Meanwhile, City would continue to pay a significant portion of Santa Cruz’s salary, believed to be more than two million euros per year.
Deal not yet finalised
However, La Lazio Siamo Noi quoted Lazio president Claudio Lotito as saying that the deal hadn’t quite been struck yet. He said that: “The Santa Cruz deal is still very open. We are thinking in depth about some issues. We will make the right assessments and will decide soon.”
Santa Cruz has been widely tipped for an exit from Eastlands throughout the summer. The player joined his former boss Mark Hughes from Blackburn Rovers for a fee of £17.5m in the summer of 2009. However, his game time at City was limited due to a succession of injuries. He played just 22 games in total for the club and scored only four goals across all competitions.
Champions League winner
The striker came to prominence at German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, where he spent eight seasons before making the switch to Blackburn in 2007. During his time in Germany, he won five league titles as well as the UEFA Champions League in 2001.
At international level, Santa Cruz has featured 70 times for the senior Paraguay national side. However, he only made sporadic appearances as Paraguay reached the quarter-final stage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
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