Lazio sell Patric to Al-Ettifaq after 11 years at the club

Lazio have sold Patric to Al-Ettifaq on a permanent basis, ending the Spanish defender's 11 years at the club. The Serie A side announced the deal on Monday morning. The club will receive no fee, according to Corriere dello Sport, but it removes a salary of €3m gross (€1.5m net).

"S.S. Lazio announces that it has permanently transferred the player Patricio Gabarrón Gil to Al-Ettifaq, a club in the United Arab Emirates," the club said.

The move came close to collapsing. Corriere dello Sport reports that talks stalled when the contracts were being drawn up and translated, probably because of a transcription error over some of the terms. A timing problem followed, with the transfer window in the UAE about to shut. The parties found a solution late on Sunday evening. Patric was already in Dubai. Had the deal fallen through, the paper says, he would have returned to Rome as a player Gennaro Gattuso could not use.

He was not registered for Serie A this season, and neither was Pellegrini. Both had a year left on their contracts. Patric, who is 33, played 16 times in all competitions last season and had not featured in a competitive match under Gattuso in 2026-27. Corriere dello Sport adds that his preparation was disrupted from the start by physical problems, with very few sessions with the group.

He arrived in the summer of 2015 as a free agent from Barcelona. He made 244 appearances for Lazio and scored 6 goals. He won the Coppa Italia in 2019 and the Supercoppa Italiana in 2017 and 2019.

Lazio published a farewell video from him on social media. In it he said:

"I arrived here as a boy and I am leaving as a man. Not even in my best dreams could I have imagined a love story like this. We won, we lost, we suffered and we celebrated, but what I will really take with me is your love. I always said I would stay for as long as I felt I could give everything. Today I leave with a full heart, but a part of me will stay here for ever."

Lazio's defence had already been reshaped this month. Diogo Leite was reported on 5 September to have agreed a three-year deal as a free agent, replacing Alessio Romagnoli.

The sale clears a wage that was doing nothing for the squad. If Pellegrini's situation is settled the same way, Lazio's payroll may come down further.