Japanese forward Daichi Kamada has had a decent start to life in the Italian capital, but things could have turned very different for the ex-Frankfurt player. Several clubs were interested in the 27-year-old, including Milan, but he finally chose to move to Lazio, citing Maurizio Sarri as an important factor in his decision.
Agent Gianluca Di Carlo has revealed Kamada was close to joining Milan instead of Lazio in an exclusive talk with Sportitalia (via LaLazioSiamoNoi).
“The player was available on a free transfer and many clubs had gone for him: Milan, Liverpool, Benfica, Real Sociedad. The Rossoneri changed the management, and I understand that there were no longer any references for the agreements that had been made. In all of this, Lazio got wind of the deal, and the entourage immediately liked the hypothesis.”
Di Carlo continued to shed light on Kamada.
“But it was not without the interference of many clubs. After all, we are talking about a player who would normally have been worth €27-28M. While everyone was putting pressure on, Lazio were good at waiting for him. You also need to know the different mentality of different people of various nationalities: an Italian is different from a Brazilian or a Japanese. He decided to become a Biancoceleste when he returned from Japan in the summer.”
Kamada arrived at Lazio on a free transfer after five successful seasons at Frankfurt, where he won the UEFA Europa League in 2021/22.
More must-reads: