Unwanted Spurs defender likely headed to Italian capital

Federico Fazio is close to a move to Serie A. First reported by Gazzetta dello sport and now corroborated by Sky Sports and football journalist Fabrizio Romano, Tottenham Hotspur’s Argentine central defender is close to a deal that will take him to AS Roma on a year long loan with an option to buy.

Nobody appears ready to purchase him outright this summer, or at least Fazio didn’t agree to move to any of those clubs, so a loan-to-purchase move makes a lot of sense. According to Sky, the transfer purchase at the end of the 2016-17 season would be approximately £3.5m.

This is fine. It’s been clear for over a year now that Fazio has no future with Tottenham, and the club has been trying to dump him since last August. He spent last year with his old club Sevilla on loan, but only made four appearances. He already has an Italian passport, apparently, which smooths the way for him to switch leagues. The slightly slower pace of the Italian league might also suit him better than the Premier League.

Frankly, Roma might be a good club for Fazio if he’s able to crack the starting lineup. Gazzetta talks about the good relationship between Roma and Spurs thanks to Franco Baldini’s tenure at both clubs, and the thought is that bringing Fazio in on a free will help free up funds for Roma to permanently sign another defender in this window.

We’ll wait for the official announcement from Tottenham, but this is a good thing for everybody. Although things didn’t work out for Fazio at Tottenham, I hope he’s able to resurrect his career in Italy’s capital city.