Lucca faces consequences of penalty fiasco: Udinese set asking price

Originally posted on Football Italia | By Peter Young | Last updated Feb 23, 2025 4:33 AM ET

Sunday’s reports suggest that Udinese could look to sell centre-forward Lorenzo Lucca in the summer following his penalty fiasco against Lecce on Friday night, which could alert the likes of Juventus and Milan.

Against Lecce in Serie A on Friday evening, Lucca went against team orders to take a penalty away from captain Florian Thauvin, who was the designated taker, which caused a series of arguments among his teammates.

Eventually, the towering centre-forward dispatches the spot kick into the top left corner, but was substituted off immediately afterwards by head coach Kosta Runjaic, who later explained that the player went against the club’s ‘hierarchies’.

Lucca faces consequences of Lecce penalty fiasco

According to reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport, Udinese are inclined to fine Lucca for his actions against Lecce, which the pink paper described as ‘embarrassing’ and ‘inexplicable at this level’.

There are also suggestions that the Italian could lose his place in the starting line-up before long, particularly with Kenan Davis nearing a return from injury.

La Gazzetta dello Sport suggest that Udinese could also look to cash in on Lucca in the summer transfer window. There had reportedly been interest from Milan in January before the Rossoneri invested €32m on Santiago Gimenez from Feyenoord.

There is also interest from Juventus, who could be on the look out for a Dusan Vlahovic replacement. The Bianconeri have a number of targets in mind, including the ‘dream’ candidate Victor Osimhen, but Lucca is also among the alternatives.

La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that the Udinese striker is currently valued in the region of €30m.

This article first appeared on Football Italia and was syndicated with permission.

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