A public training session of Lazio did not go smoothly on Monday. Maurizio Sarri felt compelled to temporarily suspend training when supporters targeted Vedat Muriqi. The Italian coach was not pleased with that, after which he took a temporary break and addressed the fans admonishing. “If I hear you say anything more about Vedat Muriqi, I’ll have you removed from here.”
Sarri seems to want to send a clear signal with the gesture to the fans, who were unhappy with Muriqi’s performance last season. Lazio supporters often target the center striker during the preparation. Muriqi was taken over from Fenerbahçe last summer for a sloppy twenty million euros, but has not yet been able to convince in the Italian capital. The Kosovar has only scored once in 27 appearances in Serie A. He also scored once in the battle for the Coppa Italia.
Maurizio Sarri stopped a training session after hearing Lazio fans insult Vedat Muriqi, who has struggled to adapt since joining from Fenerbahçe for €17.5 million. Sarri’s response: ““If I hear you say anything against Muriqi, I’ll make you all leave.” pic.twitter.com/bs5WemgRG9
— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) July 19, 2021
Images circulating on the internet show Sarri walking to the fence with the fanatic supporters to address them admonishingly. “If I hear you say anything more about Vedat Muriqi, I’ll have you removed from here,” Sarri said inexorably. The speech ends with a short applause from the fans. ‘grande, grande’, it sounds. Sarri seems to express complete confidence in the Kosovar attack leader with his words. La Gazzetta dello Sport writes that Muriqi should become the main stand-in of Ciro Immobile next season, as the Kosovar has an edge over Felipe Caicedo.
It is not the first time this preparation that a Lazio player has been negatively viewed. New addition Elseid Hysaj also made the acquaintance of Lazio’s fanatical supporters. The 27-year-old wing defender decided the song at his ‘hazing’ for the selection of the Romans Bella Ciao, made famous by the popular Netflix series La casa de papel, to be heard. That caused some annoying reactions on social media from the (extreme) right-wing camp of Lazio. Bella Ciao is originally an Italian battle song of partisans who opposed fascism and national socialism during the Second World War.
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