Lazio had a disappointing end to the 2019-20 Serie A season.
Simone Inzaghi’s side were competing with the likes of Juventus and Inter throughout the campaign. They looked good for the title race but then the football stopped, and when it restarted, Lazio just weren’t the same.
Of their remaining 12 Serie A games, Lazio lost 6 of those, winning just 5 and seeing themselves finish in 4th-place of the Serie A table. A Champions League finish no doubt, but it could’ve been so much more for Lazio.
Inzaghi will be gunning for a higher finish next season, but he’ll need to bolster his ranks if he’s to achieve that. Here are five overseas players that Lazio could look to sign this summer:
James Rodriguez
Lazio have reportedly contacted Real Madrid in the past few days about the availability of James Rodriguez. The 29-year-old is best remembered for his performances at the 2014 World Cup, which led to a big-money move to Real Madrid soon after.
But since then he’s failed to live up to the hype and now at 29, he’s seemingly unwanted by Madrid. He featured just eight times in La Liga last season but Lazio could yet hand him a lifeline – after missing out on David Silva, this could be the next best thing.
Borja Mayoral
Another Madrid man who Lazio have been linked with in recent weeks is Borja Mayoral. The 23-year-old striker has spent the last two seasons on-loan at Levante and scored 11 La Liga goals, but Madrid are said to be keen on offloading him permanently.
At 23 he’s still plenty of potential, but his goal record hasn’t been all that in the past few seasons. Many players have left Spain for Italy and proved successes, and perhaps Mayoral could be another name to add to that list.
Josh King
The Norway striker is destined to leave Bournemouth after their relegation from the Premier League. A one-time Manchester United man, King has proved himself a worthy Premier League striker with 42 goals in his last four seasons.
He emerged as a surprise target of PSG last month, with Lazio and Roma in the race with a host of Premier League clubs. Lazio scored a lot of goals last season, but relied heavily on Ciro Immobile – King could be the ideal back up player.
Sofiane Feghouli
Both Lazio and Sampdoria are said to be in the hunt for Galatasaray’s Sofiane Feghouli. The Algerian is in his third season at the Turkish side and has proved a consistent player – he’s netted 21 Superlig goals since his 2017 arrival.
A former player of the likes of Valencia and West Ham, the 30-year-old looked set to see out his career in Turkey. But after some resurgent form, he could yet have another chance to prove himself in Europe.
Chris Wood
It’s quickly becoming the fashion for English players to play abroad, and another surprise name to feature in such headlines is Burnley striker Chris Wood.
The target man has proved a prolific Premier League striker having reached double figures in his last three seasons at Burnley – 34 goals in total – and now he’s a reported target of Lazio’s.
Lazio could definitely do with a back-up striker this month and Wood would present a new dimension to the side – he’s big and powerful, a lot different to most strikers in Italy, and his presence would unsettle a lot of Italian defenses.
