Lazio forward Petar Ratkov ended the summer transfer window still a Biancocelesti player, but the conditions attached to his situation have shifted materially. Deadline day brought the confirmation of specific clauses that could yet trigger an obligation for Levante to purchase Ratkov, meaning the 23-year-old's future at the club remains structurally unresolved even as the window closes around him.
The significance of those conditions is considerable. Ratkov has not featured in Serie A this season — zero appearances, zero minutes — and his only competitive action in 2026-27 came in the Coppa Italia, where he played one match without contributing a goal or an assist. That is not the profile of a player embedded in Ivan Gennaro Gattuso's plans. It is the profile of a player whose club has been engineering an exit since July, and whose departure simply arrived in a more complicated legal form than a clean sale.
Lazio's summer business adds context. Boulaye Dia departed on loan to Rennes for a reported fee, with the deal's formula adjusted late in the window — a sign of the kind of last-minute negotiation that characterised the club's deadline day. Ratkov's situation appears to have followed a similar logic: a move structured to protect Lazio's financial position while leaving the door open for a permanent transfer if performance-based conditions are met at Levante.
On the pitch, Gattuso's side has made a composed start to the Serie A campaign, winning both of their opening matches and conceding nothing. Frattesi's goal against Genoa secured a 1-0 home victory and kept Lazio level on points with the early pacesetters. That defensive solidity and the form of others in the squad only narrows the path back for Ratkov, whose AI overall of 52 out of 100 — with a potential ceiling of 62 — suggests a player still developing rather than one ready to force his way into a competitive rotation.
The obligation clause attached to Levante is now the hinge on which Ratkov's career turns. If he performs in Spain, the move becomes permanent and Lazio crystallise a transfer fee; if he does not, he returns to a club that has spent an entire window trying to move him on. Neither outcome is comfortable, but the first is clearly preferable — for Ratkov, the clause is less a safety net than a challenge he cannot afford to ignore.