Yet there they were, in the final hours of deadline day, desperately trying to lure the 23-year-old away from Plymouth Argyle.
“When a team like that makes an offer, it shows how far you’ve come,” said Whittaker, and he’s got every right to feel proud. Don’t forget that he spent the first half of last season on loan at the Pilgrims in League One before being recalled by Swansea.
Without doubt, Lazio’s interest in Whittaker is a reflection of Italian football’s diminished status in the global game.
Last month, ministers controversially scrapped the so-called ‘Beckham Law’ that gave hefty tax breaks to overseas players.
Even before that intervention, Serie A was struggling to compete with rival ‘Big Five’ competitions, its annual revenues dwarfed by the Premier League and only marginally greater than France’s Ligue 1, the perennial minnows of the group.
Lazio can no longer strut around Harrods selecting the cream of the crop. They have to take what they can get.
Yet the pursuit of Whittaker, which Lazio conducted alongside similarly fruitless negotiations to sign Sunderland’s Jack Clarke, is as much about the Championship’s growing profile on the international stage as it is about the weakness of Italian football.
Bu hikaye The Football League Paper dergisinin February 11, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Football League Paper dergisinin February 11, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
END OF CUP ROAD FOR EFL BATTLERS
EFL interest in this season’s Carabao Cup came to an end in midweek, but it certainly wasn’t for the want of trying.
GOALS GALORE IN THE TROPHY
THE goals flew in from all angles as the Bristol Street Motors Trophy revved into action again in midweek.
KEEPER GAFFE SINKS TOWN
HUDDERSFIELD boss Michael Duff questioned his players’ mentality after goalkeeper Chris Maxwell’s bloomer handed NonLeague Tamworth a shock win.
ACE SLEW & WILLIAMS SEE OFF REBELS...
DECISIVE goals at either end of the game from Jordan Slew and Rhys Williams helped League Two Morecambe avoid a potential banana skin against National League South outfit Worthing.
MATT'S MEN JUST HAVE ENOUGH GAS
HONEST Bristol Rovers boss Matt Taylor has acknowledged his side were pushed all the way in their tie against Weston-super-Mare.
'WHITES' ARRAY OF FIREPOWER WILL GIVE THEM THE EDGE OVER RIVALS'
GARY Rowett says Leeds’ glittering arsenal of attacking stars will bring the Championship title to Elland Road.
POMPEY'S GAME OF TWO HALVES
Murphy's in to deny the Tigers
SET-PLAY PREP PAYING OFF FOR PELACH
NARCIS Pelach admitted Stoke have been working tirelessly on set-pieces since his arrival – and he was pleased the hard work paid dividends with the winner against Derby.
Robins lays marker to his Sky Blues
MARK Robins has challenged his Coventry City players to go on a Championship charge after the Sky Blues ended their wait for success on their travels with resounding victory against ten-man Boro.
JUST FAB FOUR BAYO IS UNSTOPPABLE
FOUR second-half goals in an incredible display from Vakoun Bayo powered Watford to a resounding victory at Hillsborough.