Manchester City striker joins Roman club for 12. 5 mn euros - Serie A struggler Lazio has opened its meagre coffers to splash out on ex-Reggina star Rolando Bianchi, one of Italian soccer's brightest prospects.
The Roman club, whose repeated bankruptcy scares brought rules not to spend more than it earns, announced Wednesday Bianchi was on his way from Premier league side Manchester City for some 12.5 million euros.
The club said it would spread the payment over three years.
Bianchi, a centre-forward who will be 25 on February 15, has been nicknamed 'Rolandinho' for a dose of flair that has invited comparison with Barcelona's Brazil great Ronaldinho.
The Bergamo-born player, who kept Reggina in the top flight with 18 goals from 37 starts in 2006-2007, is a surprise buy not only because of his cost - reportedly including a five-year, 1.5 million-euro-a-year contract - but because Lazio already have two star strikers, Italy's Tommaso Rocchi and Macedonia's Goran Pandev.
The announcement therefore fuelled speculation that one of the pair might soon be on the move.
Bianchi, who starred for Italy's Under-21 team at the 2006 European Championships in Portugal, joined Man City in summer 2007 for 8.8 million pounds (13 million euros).
He scored four goals in the first half of the season before letting manager Sven Goran Eriksson know he was hankering for a move back home.
Lazio reportedly beat off a strong bid from mid-table Torino to land him.
