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The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had let in ten goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.

This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?

Was the team's progress falling apart, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact from the beginning? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, only for him publicly stated that the club had not mentioned the transfer ban they were facing for fiscal problems. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he did say that Lotito had "misled" him.

The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or imploding.

Cancellieri's Unexpected Return

A single player continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to feature for Lazio this year. He was on last season with Parma on loan and, early this summer, his owning club were pushing for him to extend his stay a while longer. The registration embargo forced a rethink. The club couldn't risk to thin their squad lacking backup options.

Cancellieri arrived initially during Sarri's previous tenure, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "promising everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential but then not selecting him."

Discovering His True Position

Perhaps the manager was persistently working to identify the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn