Serie A side Lazio have denied any wrongdoing in Pedro Neto’s move to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2019.
Neto joined Wolves in a £16.11m deal from Lazio two years ago and has been a big hit at Molineux since.
A report this week from England hinted at some sort of financial skulduggery by the two clubs, though, when a look at Lazio’s finance sheets regarding the transfer.
On those, it stated that Lazio had signed the player, and subsequently paid, Sporting Lisbon for the winger when he joined the club on a permanent transfer in 2019.
The discrepancies did not continue there, with Lazio and Braga’s accounts also showing different sums for the transfer when Neto’s original loan deal to the Serie A club was factored in.
Wolves were of course dragged into the mess as they signed Neto just a month after he made a permanent switch to Italy.
The original report carried comments from Lazio general secretary Armando Calveri, who insisted the mistake was down to the finance department at the club mixing up the two Portuguese clubs.
That is something Lazio have doubled down on today, insisting in a statement that there is nothing suspicious regarding the Wolves man’s moves.
“With regard to the news that appeared on some internet sites and in today’s press concerning the footballer Pedro Neto, SS Lazio specifies that the financial transactions have been carried out correctly, in accordance with the provisions of the transfer agreements”, reads the note, relayed by CalcioFinanza.
“Unlike what has been published, no payments have been made to third parties (the Sporting Lisbon club), even though they are incorrectly mentioned in the financial statements.”
