Patric leaves Lazio after eleven years: move to Al-Ittifaq made official, what changes for fantacalcio squads

Lazio have transferred Patric permanently to Al-Ittifaq, a club in the United Arab Emirates' second division. The move was announced today, Monday 28 September, in the closing hours of the Emirati transfer window, ending a deal that over the weekend had looked close to collapsing.

According to Corriere dello Sport, a transcription error in some of the contract terms surfaced while the paperwork was being translated and signed in Dubai, causing a brief chill between the club and the player. The issue was then resolved. The same paper reports that Patric has signed a two-year deal, and that Lazio, who receive no fee for the sale, save the final year of his contract.

Eleven years in Lazio colours

The Spanish defender, born in 1993 and a product of Barcelona's youth academy, joined Lazio as a free agent in the summer of 2015. He leaves after 244 appearances and six goals, and with three trophies won in Rome: the 2019 Coppa Italia and the 2017 and 2019 Supercoppe. In a video message to fans released by the club, he summed it up in one line: "I arrived a boy and I leave a man."

In the Emirates he will link up again with Mario Balotelli, who has played for Al-Ittifaq since January.

Why he was already out of the picture

For this season's Lazio squad, the sale changes nothing. Patric had already been left off the list of players eligible for Serie A, and his summer had been difficult: a setback in July, then a calf strain in August that he was still recovering from. Had the deal fallen through, he would have stayed at Formello as an excluded player, with the market reopening only in January.

What changes for fantacalcio

On the pitch, nothing. In our listone Patric is valued at 1, the minimum, and in a defence where Tavares is priced at 8, Doekhi at 7 and Marusic at 5, he was not a starter even before his exclusion from the Serie A list. Whoever has him on their roster most likely drafted him as the last name in defence.

The issue is the roster slot itself. A player who leaves Serie A no longer earns fantavoto, and that defensive spot is now genuinely empty. If your league's rules allow a free release for a player who moves abroad, this is the moment to use it; if they do not, keep it in mind for the next riparazione window, because until then that slot will not score you a single point.

Managers who do not have him on their roster do not need to do anything: Lazio are not losing a starter, and the pecking order in defence stays the one seen in these opening rounds.