Why Liverpool target Candreva really might be leaving Lazio this time

Lazio supporters have become accustomed to seeing their stars linked with Europe’s wealthiest sides. Owner Claudio Lotito strikes a hard bargain, though, and as a result the club has tended to either keep their big players at the Stadio Olimpico or sell them for an inflated fee.

The departure of waning club icon Hernanes to Inter for a hefty £13.5m in January 2014 is a case in point, given his erratic form ever since. Even Manchester United and Real Madrid, in possession of two of football's largest chequebooks, were repelled in their advances for Stefan de Vrij, Felipe Anderson and Lucas Biglia last summer.

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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.