Dutch defender Jaap Stam today completed his £16.5million move to Lazio from Premiership champions Manchester United. A combination of poor form and a tell-all autobiography that caused considerable embarrassment for United boss Alex Ferguson was the catalyst behind Stam's sudden exit from Old Trafford. Stam failed to even make the bench for United's last two games and when Lazio approached United last week about the prospect of signing the Dutchman, the English club eagerly accepted their bid.
Although Stam believed he was not being sold because of footballing reasons, he accepted it was time to move on and signed a four-year contract with the Italian club. Lazio were eager to sign a centre-back immediately after losing regular defenders Paolo Negro and Sinisa Mihajlovic to injury and needed to wrap up the deal ahead of the deadline for registering players for the Champions League at the end of this week. Negro is expected to be out for six weeks with a strained muscle in his left leg but Croatian Mihajlovic could be out for longer with damage to his left knee ligaments.
"Things have not been very nice for me in the last couple of week at Manchester United," admitted Stam. "Of course I spoke to Sir Alex Ferguson and he told me basically they were bringing in another defender and he did not have a definite solution for myself. He said they had an offer and the club had agreed to accept the offer."
"I don't know what to believe to be honest," added the Dutchman. "Some say I don't fit into his Ferguson's plans, others say it is because of the book. But no player can sit on the bench at 29. I want to play every game and at a very high level as well. At Lazio everybody believes in me, or they wouldn't pay this amount of money for a defender. I am happy to join a club which wants to win big prizes and Serie A as well."
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
