Mauro Zarate’s agent says his client was forced out of Lazio” data-scaytid=”2″>Lazio last summer by Edy Reja, something that the Coach has angrily denied.
Mauro Zarate’s agent says his client was forced out of Lazio last summer by Edy Reja, something that the Coach has angrily denied.
Zarate’s future is in the air this summer, after a fallout last year with the Aquile resulted in him leaving on loan to Inter for 2011-12. However, with that stint with the Nerazzurri proving unsuccessful, the striker finds himself in limbo, something that his newly-appointed agent blames Reja for.
“[President Claudio] Lotito and [sporting director Igli] Tare were very nice to him,” Luis Ruzzi told Radiosei earlier today.
“When they spoke to him, they called him a part of the club. Inside the dressing room, someone didn’t like him. Reja? Not just him, a group of players.
“In all the tests last summer during training and tactics, the Coach never fielded him, only Miroslav Klose, and Mauro felt dejected.
“For a fan of football like him, if they buy a champions such as the German and you cannot play a single minute with him, then you can make some mistakes.”
However, Reja has already hit back, suggesting that the issue Zarate had was in fact with Lotito, Tare and his former agent.
“I prefer not to comment on these words,” the former Lazio boss replied today to La Repubblica.
“I would only like to point out that last summer I didn’t sideline anyone and Zarate was always involved in all exercises and tactical schemes. Then, logically, when there are new purchases they should be tested.
“In attack I had two players like Miroslav Klose and Djibril Cisse and I always chose to try them in the pre-season friendlies. The same went for Senad Lulic. This doesn’t mean that others were being set aside.
“Indeed, in the end you can see that overall completed minutes were pretty much the same for all members of the squad last season.
“To find out why Zarate left don’t ask me, ask the club and his agent at the time [Giuseppe Bozzo].”