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The atmosphere at Lazio's home ground was far from happy on Saturday afternoon. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed 10 goals while netting just two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their most recent demonstration in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.

This Year's Efforts Coming Unstitched?

Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been a binding element holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for fiscal problems. Speculation that he could resign were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.

The Roman club were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or self-destructing.

The Youngster's Surprising Comeback

A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this year. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, early this summer, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to weaken their team without replacements.

He signed originally when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances with the club in 2022-23, the vast majority of those as a substitute. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."

Discovering His Best Role

Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the nature of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent most of that campaign as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn