Matteo Cancellieri Shows Glimpses of Brilliance in Positive Aspect for Haywire Lazio

The feeling at their home stadium was far from happy this past Saturday. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had let in a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.

This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?

Had their campaign coming unstitched, or had there never been a binding element holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him admitted that the club had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that he could resign were without basis, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.

The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining opening fixtures, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, observers have struggled to determine if they are improving or collapsing.

The Youngster's Unexpected Return

One individual kept smiling throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio during this campaign. He completed last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his parent club were advocating for him to stay there a while longer. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad with no new signings.

He signed initially under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 Serie A appearances with the club in that campaign, almost all of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."

Finding His Best Role

Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to work out the specific characteristics of his skill set. Labeled as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn