San Lorenzo manager Juan Antonio Pizzi has reaffirmed the club’s desire to sign defender Fabricio Coloccini from Newcastle.
Coloccini, 30, signed a new four-year-deal with the Magpies last March but has been linked with a return to Argentina after it emerged he had fallen out with manager Alan Pardew just before Christmas.
Pizzi has now revealed that the Argentine club will remain patient in their attempts to sign the former San Lorenzo loanee if it increases their chances of concluding a deal.
“No offence to any other player but Coloccini represents something more to San Lorenzo. It would be best to make a decision soon, not to delay more,” he said. “If we are given any hope of signing him [Coloccini], we are capable of waiting. Even if they give us a little bit of hope we will wait for him.”
The news comes after claims from the player’s father, who is a youth coach at San Lorenzo, that his son would like to return to Argentina. Speaking last week, he said: "Fabricio wants to play for San Lorenzo and he is trying his best to find an elegant way to leave Newcastle.”
However, those claims were promptly refuted by Coloccini’s agent Marcelo Lombilla just days later, who described them as “illusions”.
"The San Lorenzo thing arises because of a personal matter, and because his father is at the club," he told Radio 9. "He only renewed his contract six months ago. These stories always create a buzz and generate illusions, but they are just that illusions and nothing more. These things written I just cannot believe."
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