Romagnoli's Deal To Al-Sadd Falls Through After Late Deadline Chaos

S.S. Lazio are reportedly set to keep Alessio Romagnoli after his proposed move to Al-Sadd SC broke down in dramatic fashion on the final day of the Qatar transfer window. What looked like a late breakthrough quickly spiralled into confusion, with delays proving decisive and the deal collapsing when time ran out.

According to reports from Manuel Baiocchini and later confirmed by Gianluca Di Marzio, Lazio and Al-Sadd had reached an agreement for Romagnoli’s transfer and the paperwork was effectively in place, but the Qatari side allegedly failed to submit the move before the window closed. With the deadline arriving earlier than in many other leagues, the margin for error was always thin, and a few hours of waiting ended up being fatal.

The story, however, was never a straight line. It had become an exhausting tug of war, with both sides alternating between being close to a final handshake and drifting apart again. Even when it felt like a late compromise had finally been found, things still turned in the opposite direction. Part of the problem was that the proposal sent to Lazio was not viewed as fully convincing, and another complication centred on financial details on the player’s side. Romagnoli reportedly did not want to waive around six hundred thousand euros in salary relating to November, December, and January, a position that is not unusual in negotiations and had been mirrored only days earlier by Christos Mandas in a separate situation. In Romagnoli’s case, his reluctance was also shaped by the wider context, including previous disappointments linked to renewal discussions, salary adjustments that never arrived, and the pressure that built up around avoiding a sale.

Lazio themselves contributed to the confusion when the club published a striking message on their official channels insisting that no transfer would take place and that Romagnoli would remain tied to his contract. Meanwhile, the defender appeared to bid farewell after Lazio’s draw with U.S. Lecce, and he was subsequently left out of the squad for last Friday’s match against Genoa CFC, even though he was spotted watching from the stands.

From Lazio’s perspective, allowing the transfer might have reduced the wage bill and generated another profit, but it also would have risked undermining the team on the pitch by removing a key reference point for Maurizio Sarri. The financial return being discussed was not even viewed as particularly large, reported to be under ten million euros with add ons that were not guaranteed. In the end, the deal collapsed, and the outcome is now an awkward reset. After days of tension and preparations for a departure, Romagnoli is expected to remain in Rome and return to Sarri’s disposal, leaving everyone to manage the fallout of a transfer that looked done, until it suddenly was not.