The summer transfer window was an ugly one for Baldé Keith.
The Lazio forward, who was linked with a move to Monaco, postponed his arrival to training camp during pre-season, and publicly accused the club of treating him poorly.
Eventually, with no transfer happening, the player slowly swallowed his words and was reintegrated into the squad, where he has played rather well since returning.
Scoring two goals and picking up two assists in five appearances, the 21-year-old’s talent is undeniable, but questions about his attitude still remain.
With a contract running out in 2018, Lazio are now in a precarious position where they probably need to renew his current deal, but will the player want to?
Corriere dello Sport look at the various options presented to them, and one of the revelations about the player suggests he might want to look somewhere else, even England.
The Italian newspaper say the player, fully aware of his abilities, feels he should be at a bigger club than Lazio, like Manchester City, Real Madrid or Barcelona.
He dreams of a top club, and Lazio isn’t that, at least anymore.
The player and his agent have already asked for a transfer multiple times, the most recent over the summer, and there’s every chance he could run down his contract until January 2018 and get a free move somewhere else.
Lazio want €30m for their player, and their best chance of getting it is to give him a new contract with that amount as the release clause.
There’s already talk of a tripled salary to be offered in November.
Give him that, and he’ll probably be happy until he gets his transfer.
