The former Roma and Eintracht spoke in the press room: “Before the matches against the Biancocelesti I always called my friends and we joked about them. Bale, Maldini and Marcelo are my role models”
February 21 – Formello
First mission: to convince Sarri. Second mission: get the company to redeem him. Third mission; become a staple of Lazio. Luca Pellegrini has clear ideas and discreet speaking skills. In his first press conference as a player of the Biancoceleste club, he bluntly illustrates his goals. However, first making a necessary premise: “I’ve arrived in the team I’ve always supported, for me it’s a dream come true and it’s like living a fairy tale”.
Chance
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Alongside the boy who supports Lazio, however, there is also the professional who wants to play for an important chance in an important club. “I arrived here on loan (it is owned by Juventus, ed), so my first goal is to transform this temporary transfer into a permanent one”. To push the club to redeem him, however, he must first make Sarri understand that he can immediately be a useful resource for Lazio. The coach, joking but not too much, welcomed him by telling him that, with him, no defender who arrived in the winter transfer market managed to play in the same season. Because fitting into Sarria’s defensive mechanisms is quite complicated and long training is needed first. However, Pellegrini has two cards to play to be ahead of the times: he has already worked for two months with Sarri (at Juve in the summer of 2019, before being loaned to Cagliari at the end of August) and then has an innate drive that can make the difference. “I’m sure I can convince the coach to give me opportunities in the short term. Then it will be up to me to get ready, but I think I can do it. Then, in fact, having worked with him, even if only for two months, is an advantage”.
Young but experienced
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Convincing Sarri to convince Lazio. And then? “For now the goal is to stay here for a long time. If I were to succeed, maybe we could make other speeches like that of the national team. Which is the dream of any player, so mine too”. Pellegrini arrives at Lazio after having already played in many teams, despite his young age. From Roma, in whose youth team he grew up, to Cagliari, Juventus and Eintracht Frankfurt with whom he has played in the last six months. “It was a very formative experience, both at a football and human level. You deal with a culture different from ours and, in relation to football, you learn new tactical and technical notions”. To be put into practice now in Lazio. “For now I think I’ve brought a little more enthusiasm to the locker room, then I hope to give my contribution on the pitch as well. However, here I found a truly exceptional group. I already knew some players, like Romagnoli, but the others are all exceptional companions as well.” He can’t wait to play next to them. It is not excluded that Sarri will throw him into the fray already on Thursday in Cluj in the Conference League. As a left-back, which has now become his definitive role. “I changed several before being permanently deployed in this position which is my favourite. Who inspires me? The left wingers I admire the most are Maldini, Marcelo and Bale. They are monsters, seeing them on TV I tried to steal everything I could from them”.
February 21 – 20:52
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