Livorno have admitted they opted against signing Tommaso Rocchi because of his past as a Lazio player.
The veteran striker has been linked with the Tuscan club and can still be signed outside of the window given that he is a free agent.
Livorno have admitted they opted against signing Tommaso Rocchi because of his past as a Lazio player.
The veteran striker has been linked with the Tuscan club and can still be signed outside of the window given that he is a free agent.
However, Livorno President Aldo Spinelli has revealed he can’t bring in a player who spent almost a decade with the capital club.
“I would have liked Rocchi, but he is a Laziale and it would have been impossible to sign him given the rivalry between the fans,” he explained.
“We would have wanted him, but we decided to go for other players instead. It’s crazy, I know, but this is football.
“In the interest of keeping the peace, we opted to say no.
“There has always been this great rivalry between Livorno and Lazio even if I am good friends with Lazio President Claudio Lotito.”
The friction stems from a difference in political ideologies as the communist sympathies of some in Livorno clash with the section of Lazio’s notoriously far right supporters.