Lazio midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru opened his 2026-27 Serie A account in the season's first weekend, featuring in the biancocelesti's 1-0 victory away against Bologna at the Dall'Ara — a result that placed Gennaro Gattuso's side ninth in the early table on three points from one match.
The result matters more as context than as confirmation. Lazio won without Dele-Bashiru contributing a goal or an assist, and his average rating of 6.60 across that single Serie A appearance suggests a functional rather than decisive contribution. At 25, the Nigerian-born midfielder is at precisely the age when a player either consolidates his standing or begins to drift toward the margins of a squad's ambitions. Which direction Dele-Bashiru moves this season is one of the more interesting subplots at the Olimpico.
The win itself was secured by Davide Frattesi, the summer signing whose goal proved the difference in Bologna. That Lazio's most significant attacking moment came from a new arrival rather than an established midfielder is a data point Dele-Bashiru will be aware of. Competition for central positions under Gattuso — a coach who prizes intensity and positional discipline — is unlikely to ease as the campaign develops.
Dele-Bashiru also appeared in the Coppa Italia this season, though that competition produced no goals or assists either. The Coppa showing came before the Bologna fixture and, by the Tuttosport account of that match, was part of what the outlet described as a "clamoroso flop" on the season's opening night — a result that made the subsequent Serie A win feel more urgent than routine.
His AI overall rating of 70 out of 100, with a projected ceiling of 76, frames him as a player with room to grow but not yet operating near his own ceiling. The gap between current output and potential is where the season's narrative lives. Gattuso's Lazio have one win, one clean sheet, and a transfer window still open — Petar Ratkov has attracted interest from Sevilla, which could yet reshape the squad's attacking options and, indirectly, the midfield's responsibilities.
Dele-Bashiru's opening chapter is written in pencil. The ink comes later.