It must have been a very strange summer, 1998, for Diego Fuser. Because he goes from being the acclaimed captain of Lazio to ending up on the transfer market and going to Parma, with whom he will win the UEFA Cup the following May, in Moscow against Olympique Marseille, avenging the previous year’s defeat against Inter , in Paris. However, he didn’t know it at the time, but he was aware that he had not been called up for France 98, the World Cup, due to the choices of Cesare Maldini who preferred the AC Milan players to the Biancocelesti ones.
Also because he had just lifted the Italian Cup with the armbandessentially untouchable. But in football what is true today may not be true tomorrow, and vice versa. The president of Lazio, Cragnotti, would like Enrico Chiesa and makes a deal with Tanzi. “I’ll give you Fuser but if you take Batistuta then you’ll give me Chiesa”. Done deal, too bad that Parma will never sign Batigol, who will remain in Florence for another two seasons before moving to Sensi’s Roma. So Lazio loses its winger, eight goals the previous year, for twelve billion.
Fuser is surprised. “I found out everything on Tuesday, I’m leaving Lazio with no regrets, they’ve been six wonderful years. In today’s football there is now everything, so I wasn’t surprised. Among other things, I’m going to another great team and I hope it stays Chiesa.” That’s exactly how it will be. Diego Fuser turns 56 today.