Marcus Mann, the sporting director of Red Bull Salzburg, has disclosed that Lazio’s January approach for Petar Ratkov took him by complete surprise. The offer arrived just two days into his role at the Austrian club, necessitating one of his initial major decisions under considerable time constraints.
Ratkov was Salzburg’s leading scorer when Lazio expressed interest in January, seeking a replacement for Taty Castellanos, who had recently moved to West Ham. The timing of the offer and the urgency to respond made the decision particularly difficult for Mann.
“The offer from Lazio for Ratkov took me a little by surprise; the call came when I had only been here two days,” Mann shared with Austrian television, as quoted by TuttoMercatoWeb. “I had to consider both the financial and sporting implications. From a sporting standpoint, I was already aware that losing your top scorer is always a tough choice, but ultimately, we prioritized the financial aspect. Of course, though, you sometimes find yourself wondering: ‘How would things have turned out if he had stayed?’”
Mann refrained from using Ratkov’s departure as an excuse for Salzburg’s subsequent goal-scoring difficulties, noting that Konaté’s return from injury helped to broadly balance the attacking statistics on paper.
“It would be too easy to use this sale as an alibi for the few goals we’ve been scoring,” he stated. “But the fact remains that Ratkov, with his aerial presence, would have been very useful to us in certain situations.”
Meanwhile, for Lazio, the Serbian striker has experienced a slow adaptation to Serie A, making his former club’s occasional regrets all the more noticeable. The Serbian forward has appeared in just seven matches for the Biancocelesti since his January arrival, failing to score and primarily being utilized as a substitute.
Head coach Maurizio Sarri has identified language barriers as the primary obstacle, as the forward continues to learn Italian.