Lazio's Search for Free Agents: Icardi and Bissouma Under Consideration
Lazio are still trawling the free-agent market after the close of the summer window, but the names on the table are splitting opinion inside Formello.
Club president Claudio Lotito is tempted by a high-profile move for Mauro Icardi. The former Inter striker is still without a club after leaving Galatasaray, and his pedigree in Serie A continues to appeal to the Lazio hierarchy as they look for experience and goals without paying a transfer fee.
The squad list gives them room to manoeuvre. After bringing in Portuguese defender Diogo Leite on a free, Lazio still have two open slots in their official Serie A list, created by the omissions of Patric and Luca Pellegrini.
Lotito’s curiosity, though, is not universally shared.
Gattuso cool on Icardi idea
On the bench, Gennaro Gattuso sees things differently. The coach has pushed for a more mobile No. 9 to spearhead his system, and that demand drove the late summer signing of Andrea Pinamonti.
For Gattuso, the priority is clear: get Pinamonti fully fit and fully integrated. Icardi, with his penalty-box instincts but limited movement, sits far down his list of needs. The Argentine is viewed as an option, but a low one, not a signing to build the attack around.
While the Icardi debate rumbles in the background, another opportunity has appeared in midfield.
Bissouma considered for injury-hit midfield
Yves Bissouma, formerly of Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton, has emerged as a possible reinforcement in the centre of the pitch. Recent injuries in midfield have forced Lazio to look again at the market, and the Mali international’s profile is being examined as a way to add depth and physicality without breaking the club’s wage structure.
Lazio, though, are not acting out of panic. Despite those two vacant spots on the Serie A list and several big names on the free-agent board, the club are keeping their powder dry. The plan is to watch, wait and decide calmly whether to pull the trigger on Icardi, Bissouma, both – or neither.
