Cancellieri Demonstrates Glimpses of Exceptional Talent in Silver Lining for Haywire Lazio
The mood at Lazio's home ground was anything but joyful this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Unraveling?
Was Lazio's season coming unstitched, or did there exist a binding element holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, before he publicly stated that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Speculation that he might quit were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in their other first five games, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, it's been difficult to tell if they're getting better or imploding.
Cancellieri's Unexpected Presence
A single player kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He was on the previous campaign at Parma as a loanee and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to remain there a while longer. The registration embargo necessitated a reconsideration. They were unable to thin their squad without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was continuing to attempt to identify the exact type of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
