Cassano wanted by Lazio (Lotito)

The skilful forward eventually joined Sampdoria on a season-long loan from Real Madrid, and he has been hugely impressive for the port-city club.

Cassano spent four-a-half years with Roma from 2001 to 2006 but despite this Lazio President Claudio Lotito has revealed that his latest stop could have been Lazio instead of Sampdoria.

"He is a great footballer,” said Lotito

“We thought we had him in the summer and the boy wanted to come to Lazio.

“It was an idea that we caressed, although there would have been inevitable teething troubles within the dressing room due to his past at Roma"

Cassano simply cannot stop hitting the headlines at the moment. On Sunday afternoon he made the press for all the right reasons after a simply inspirational display for Sampdoria in their 1-0 derby win over Genoa.

However he was blasted by Real Madrid President Ramon Calderon earlier today following remarks made by Cassano about his pre-match sexual escapades during his time at the club.

The Bari-native is aiming to win a recall to the Italian national team for Euro 2008, however there are those who believe that the forward’s constant ill-discipline will prevent this from taking place.

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