The Crystal Palace target, when putting a number on his chances of a change of scenery this summer, believes a new club and a fresh start is ‘100 per cent’ guaranteed.
But what are the chances that Selhurst Park will be his destination? Maybe not quite as high as ‘100 per cent’, but the number looks pretty high.
HITC reported on Friday that Crystal Palace had entered talks over a deal to reunite Oliver Glasner with one of his Europa League winners from 2022.
The prospect of a reunion with the Austrian tactician is understood hold plenty of appeal as far as Daichi Kamada is concerned too, a midfielder who was on the radar of Liverpool and AC Milan before joining Lazio a year ago seemingly destined to bring his elegant stride and empathic finishing to South London.
Especially after Fabrizio Romano uttered those three magic words on Monday morning; Daichi Kamada to Crystal Palace, ‘here we go’.
Talk about starting your week off right.
Crystal Palace close in on Daichi Kamada deal
“It is 100 per cent certain that I will leave Lazio,” Kamada now tells Football Zone. “At the beginning, I intended to stay. But these things happen in Italy. Moreover, president (Claudio) Lotito is famous especially in Italy for being one of the most difficult to negotiate with.”
Lotito, we would imagine, is bristling at such a suggestion.
One of the most outspoken and uncompromising presidents in Italian football hit out at Kamada’s camp over the weekend. The 27-year-old Japan international is set to leave Lazio on a free transfer after the renewal option in his short-term contract expired, much to the frustration of both Lotito and Biancocelesti director Angelo Fabiani.
“I only wanted a one-year contract and didn’t ask for anything for a pay rise because I was earning enough,” Kamada adds. “We were unable to reach an agreement. I don’t know what my agent told the club, but I only wanted a one-year contract.”
Oliver Glasner favourite is leaving Lazio
After a difficult start to life at Lazio, the departure of Maurizio Sarri and the subsequent appointment of Igor Tudor looked set to bring about happier times for Kamada in the Italian capital.
“I spoke to Tudor many times,” adds Kamada, a benchwarmer under Sarri but a regular under the former Juventus defender. “He was helping me improve, he took me under his wing and reiterated his desire to keep me at the club. Even when I decided to leave, I stayed in contact with the coach.
“I don’t have a problem with him. I hope we can work together again in the future.”
While Kamada is keeping the door open to a Tudor reunion, it is Glasner he looks destined to be plying his trade under in 2024/25. One of the more underrated attacking midfield talents in Europe not only won the Europa League alongside Glasner at Frankfurt, he also enjoyed the most prolific campaign of his career, hitting 16 in his final year with the Bundesliga outfit.
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