Rumours of a lucrative Saudi offer for Ciro Immobile led Claudio Lotito to claim that the Lazio captain ‘is not for sale’, although he seemingly didn’t rule out a possible deal.
Local journalist Turki Alghamdi claimed today that Al-Shabab had prepared an offer for the 33-year-old Italian striker, willing to pay him around €15m net per season with a €5m signing bonus.
Due to the fact that Al-Shabab are not one of the four clubs recently backed by sovereign wealth fund PIF, they’ll go to the Saudi Ministry of Sport to ask for funding for a possible deal.
Lotito discussed the situation to Il Messaggero via Calciomercato.com, making a brief but possibly revealing comment.
“I have not received any official offers for Immobile. He is like my son, he is not for sale. The only way to tempt me would be a €50m offer. And even for that amount I wouldn’t be sure…”
Calciomercato suggests that Immobile has not accepted any offers from Saudi Arabia and that Lazio wouldn’t sign off on a deal, but Lotito’s comments do seemingly leave the door open should a lucrative official offer arrive.
Last season, the Italian striker scored 14 goals and provided seven assists in 38 appearances across all competitions.
In other words, even his son is for sell if the price is right.
I would take the offer and put the money
towards a striker that can score more goals and also make impact in the CL.