Failure to sign Yilmaz understood to be behind the anger.
Lazio president Claudio Lotito has reportedly received death threats after his failure to sign Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Lotito and director of sport Igli Tare have been the subject of threatening messages since the move broke down ahead of the transfer deadline, with threats such as “You will end up hanged” being sent to the club.
It is understood that the major factor behind the messages is the club’s inability to sign Yilmaz, who had appeared set for a move to the Italian capital only for the deal to break down on Monday.
The blame has in turn been placed on Lotito’s shoulders, even though the Biancocelesti insist that the demands of the player’s agents ruined the deal.
Lotito has endured years of anger and frustration from the club’s supporters, who initially were displeased with his running of the club as he looked to wipe out significant debts.
Nevertheless, he has successfully helped construct a competitive squad, one which defeated bitter city rivals Roma in last year’s Coppa Italia final.
However, that appears to have been quickly forgotten by the Lazio faithful, who were left frustrated on deadline day as the club failed to sign a striker to support veteran Miroslav Klose.
However, Lazio’s transfer intermediary Valerio Antonini has also insisted that the blame should not be placed on Lotito, but on Yilmaz’s agents.
“It was everybody’s intention to bring him to Rome,” Antonini told Lazio Style Radio. “Indeed, it was the agent who tried to extort Lotito when he knew of the agreement between Burak and with Galatasaray,”
It remains to be seen how the club respond to the threats, but Lotito will certainly be hoping results on the pitch help to ease the anger off it.
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