give his team a 1–0 lead, and also converted his attempt in the shootout, being again named "UEFA Best Midfielder of the Year". Moving abroad Mendieta was one of the most sought-after players in the 2001 off-season, eventually earning a €47.7 million transfer (or a reported 8 billion pesetas) to Italian club S.S. Lazio, being at the time the sixth most expensive player of all time. However, he disappointed in Serie A, spending only one year in Rome while failing to match the performances of departed playmakers Pavel Nedvěd and Juan Sebastián Verón. Mendieta was loaned to Barcelona for the 2002–03 season– he started most of the fixtures, but the Catalans could only finish sixth– and subsequently he moved to Middlesbrough, choosing the Premier League club over offers from his homeland (Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao) due to a desire to play in England. Middlesbrough In his first season at Middlesbrough, Mendieta was part of the side that won the Football League Cup, bringing the Teesside club its first ever silverware. In July 2004, the move was made permanent with no transfer fee involved. In his last two years, a string of injuries (including one which caused him to miss the 2006 UEFA Cup Final) and long spells of regaining match fitness relegated Mendieta to the substitutes bench. He fell out of favour with manager Gareth Southgate, who made it clear that the player no longer featured in his plans. Reports suggested that Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao and Málaga CF were interested in purchasing the midfielder in the January 2007 transfer window, however no concrete agreement was ever made, and the transfer deadline passed amid speculation that the player was set for a move to Los Angeles Galaxy; towards its end, he was quoted to have said that he would fight for his place at Middlesbrough. A day later, Boro's chief executive Keith Lamb disregarded his comments saying that there was "no chance" of him featuring in the first team. He played his last game on 26 December 2006, against Everton. On 5 December 2007, according to a Spanish newspaper, Mendieta announced his retirement from professional football when his Middlesbrough contract expired at the end of the 2007–08 campaign, He was finally released on 13 May 2008, ending a successful 17-year professional career. Mendieta said in an interview with the BBC on 3 November 2009 that he might be interested