Petar Ratkov Decides: 15 Million From Moscow on the Table
Dynamo Moscow has offered Lazio more than 15 million euros for Petar Ratkov, and the Roman club has agreed. The Serbian striker has not yet said yes, and insists he is in no hurry to leave Rome.
During preseason, Petar Ratkov was doing exactly what Lazio paid him for. Six goals in friendlies, minutes that Gennaro Gattuso handed him without hesitation, a leading striker spot that looked more like his own with every passing week. Then a call arrived in Rome, from Moscow.
Dynamo Moscow offered more than 15 million euros plus bonuses. According to Italian media, Lazio said yes to that figure. Only one signature is missing, and it is the one nobody at the club can provide on the player’s behalf.
Why Lazio Agreed So Quickly
The Romans signed Ratkov in January 2026 from Salzburg for 13 million euros. Seven months later they stand to get more than they paid, without him even completing a full half season that would show his true worth in Serie A. On paper, the math looks tidy. In practice, it means the club that bought him as proof of its own scouting is walking away from that proof after just six months.
There is another detail easy to miss. As a replacement, Lazio has sent Sassuolo an offer of 15 million euros for Andrea Pinamonti. So if everything goes to plan, Lazio sells one striker for 15 million and buys another for 15 million. Net zero in the till, a new name on the shirt, and a fresh adaptation from scratch.
What the Player Wants
Ratkov is in no rush. He says he feels good in Rome and wants to fight for the starting striker role, and Gattuso gave him enough minutes in preseason to make that ambition look realistic rather than naive. Born in 2003, he wore the TSC shirt before Salzburg, and counting Austria, he is already on his third club abroad in his 23rd year.
That is the core of the silence coming from his camp. A move to Russia brings money immediately, but it kills the very reason he went to Italy in the first place, proving himself in a league the whole of Europe watches. A striker who scored six goals in preseason has no reason to run before the first official match.
Who Comes In If Ratkov Says Yes
Lazio is not sitting idle. The first option is Franjo Ivanovic from Benfica, a striker born the same year as Ratkov, for whom Lazio has sent an offer for a loan with an option to buy. Benfica, for now, is negotiating only a permanent transfer, at a price Lazio cannot match, so that route is currently stalled.
That leaves Pinamonti. The offer to Sassuolo is already on the table and gets activated the moment Ratkov says yes to Moscow. The order is clear: the Serbian’s decision comes first, everything else follows.
The news of the Russian offer was first reported by the portal LaLazioSiamoNoi, and Italian media had confirmed the club’s consent by morning. What none of them have is an answer from Ratkov’s side.
My take is that nobody loses here if nobody rushes. Lazio already got the price it wanted, and that offer is not going anywhere. Ratkov is 23, playing for a Serie A club, and being used by a coach who trusts him, and that combination does not come around every season. If he says no, his next proof has to come on Serie A’s opening matchday, not in a preseason friendly. If he says yes, the question left standing is who Lazio actually sold its most expensive winter signing to, and for how much.
