[LaVecchiaSignora]

Matteo Sereni celebrated his Torino move with a scathing attack on old club Lazio and their President Claudio Lotito.

“I had won my battle at Lazio,” insisted the goalkeeper. “I had become a first team player, leaving someone as great as Angelo Peruzzi behind me. Then Lotito got involved.


“The President didn’t like the fact my wages were higher than anyone else’s and proposed that I halve them. I would have remained in Rome for the fans, but not for Lotito, who didn’t appreciate me. So I preferred a change of scenery.”


The former Ipswich Town shot-stopper has had a troubled time since his return to Italy in 2002, playing at Brescia and Lazio.


In 2005-06 he managed just two top flight appearances for the Biancocelesti and seven with Treviso, while this season he did not set foot on the pitch.


Now he has the opportunity to begin again with this free transfer to Torino, where he replaces the Atletico Madrid-bound Christian Abbiati.


“I was off the field of play for almost two years, but perhaps people do not realise I always trained, as much as and in some cases more than my teammates.


“Now all I am missing is the posts so I can shake a little of the rust off. I have this crazy desire to prove who I am to the sceptics. I understand that not having seen me for a while, they might think I stopped existing, but that is not the case.


“I have immense motivation to get back to the goalkeeper I was and never stopped being.”


Torino will begin their pre-season training from July 12 to 29 at Malles near Bolzano, moving on to Acqui Terme from August 1 to 13.

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