155 miles to the east of Milan and 30 kilometres to the south-east of Turin is the Piedmont region. The town of Villafranca d'Asti sits in the region. In 1993, a car crash on a small road near Villafranca d'Asti, would change the trajectory of the world’s then most expensive footballer.
Having had the tyres of his Porsche 911 replaced, Lentini was unaware that the high-performance German sports car was not to go above 70 kilometres per hour. When, the following day, Lentini pushed the vehicle to a speed in excess of 200 Kilometres, something had to give. It did. Lentini flipped, hit a ditch and the 911 burst into flames. When he was found by a passing lorry driver, he was lucky to be alive.
A fractured skull along with damage to his eye socket left the then 24-year-old in a coma. Brought to the local Cardinal Massaia Hospital in Asti, he was quickly transferred to Turin hospital.
Lentini had joined AC Milan from Torino for £13m in 1992, whose youth system he had prospered in as a fast, technical and smart winger. Generally on the left-wing, he could flourish on the right too. The battle for his signature between Milan and Juventus saw Alan Shearer’s £3.6 million move that same year from Southampton to Blackburn as minimal in comparison.
If Juventus wanted the player, they could not have envisaged that at a time when loyalty meant more, he would have left Torino, the clubs great, local rivals, to play for the Bianconeri. But if meant irritating Milan and driving up the players price, then all the better.
Milan got their man, but the price tag was a heavy one. Jean-Pierre Papin had joined for £10m months beforehand. Both were internationals for France and Italy respectively, but Papin was certainly the more established. Lentini’s price tag was not a direct reflection of his worth. But that’s not to undermine what he offered.
Fast and agile, Lentini was a player who could wait until the last moment to strike an accurate cross, drawing defenders with him and opening up space for teammates. Technical, strong and adroit; he also led by example, underpinned by his hard work.
World's most expensive player (once), an absolutely magical winger ... then a car wreck stole his best from him.
So, when the medical director of the Turin hospital were Lentini was recovering – Carmelo del Giudice – said that he was “slowly coming round” and that there “should be nothing to prevent him from returning to football”, it was still impossible to ascertain what type of player he would return as.
If Silvio Berlusconi, the Milan President, said the clubs hearts were in their mouths, as Lentini recovered, Milan fans and observers far further afield, waited to see if he would return. And when he started training again in 1994, the wonder was what type of player would he return as?
The answer was that he didn’t, and realistically couldn’t, return as the same player. It was a more subdued version. Affected by memory loss and blurred version, how could he have the same sharpness and technique? He didn’t. Becoming a squad player with limited first team appearances, he joined Atalanta in 1996. A return home, a year later, to Torino, saw him flourish; in relative terms. He would help his boyhood club gain promotion from Serie B.
However, Serie A football was by then out of reach. Shy as a child, the introverted Lentini who was never allowed to fulfil his potential, chose the quiet life in retirement. However he played the game he loved right up until the age of 43, with local side Carmagnola.
A quiet life, for a player whose career was disrupted, in the most dramatic of fashion.
