N’Diaye Papa Waigo accidentally insulted Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli to the wrong person and only accepted Southampton because of two lies, reveals his agent.
The Senegal international is now 36 years old and playing in the UAE, but spent his early career in Italy with Verona, Cesena, Genoa, Lecce, Ascoli, Grosseto and Fiorentina.
“During the 2009-10 season, I received a phone call from Fiorentina team manager Roberto Ripa,” agent Costantino Nicoletti told Tuttomercatoweb.
N’Diaye Papa Waigo accidentally insulted Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli to the wrong person and only accepted Southampton because of two lies, reveals his agent.
The Senegal international is now 36 years old and playing in the UAE, but spent his early career in Italy with Verona, Cesena, Genoa, Lecce, Ascoli, Grosseto and Fiorentina.
“During the 2009-10 season, I received a phone call from Fiorentina team manager Roberto Ripa,” agent Costantino Nicoletti told Tuttomercatoweb.
“There were some problems, as Papa Waigo wasn’t playing much and so he confided in the fitness coach, tearing into everything he hated about Prandelli. There was just one problem, the fitness coach’s name was Nicolò… Prandelli.
“Considering the situation, the club asked me to find him somewhere new. We had offers from Serie B, but then this opportunity opened up at Southampton.
“In order to convince Papa, I told him: ‘Look, you can go to London, it’s the second tier of English football, but a very important shop window and you can really make the difference there.’
“That wasn’t entirely true, because Southampton is an hour-and-a-half away from London and the club was in the third tier. At the end of the day, Papa Waigo won the Football League Trophy at Wembley and would’ve liked to stay, but Fiorentina’s asking price was too high.
“The moral of the story is that at times a little white lie for the right reasons can help players go through important experiences,” smiled the representative.