Pioggia Viola : AFC Fiorentina

Fiorentina came so close to winning Serie A last year that it would be very easy to assume they could do the same, or better, this year. Unfortunately for I Viola faithful, they aren’t in a position like Juventus or any of the other top clubs (Lazio, Napoli, AC / Inter Milan) to maintain a roster through sheer financial might. Fiorentina now sit on a razor’s edge as they will need to re-tool the roster in an attempt to remain competitive while bringing up some of the youth they have been building up. This is probably the last season Montella will be able to keep this core of players together, with an infusion of youth players filling in we will see if Montella flew too close to the sun last year.

Even if the team fails to repeat last year the club is in a much better place, just making the Champions League was a massive boost to the club’s reputation and financial situation. Last year was an excellent example of what happens when Fiorentina goes up against the biggest clubs in Europe, the beating they took at Old Trafford is still fresh in their minds, but that doesn’t mean they can’t maintain a seat at the table. It will take many years, maybe decades, of success before Fiorentina can realistically count winning the Champions League as a goal. Montella is still focused on short term success while supporting the club’s long term planning, Daniele Pradè has been managing the purchase of youth talent along with Head of Youth Development Vincenzo Vergine at an aggressive pace just to keep up with the bigger Italian clubs. If Fiorentina can’t develop a core of young players soon the team will likely be stripped for parts and they will need to start all over again, until they improve their reputation they will find it difficult to buy well known players.

One milestone hanging over Montella’s head is a new stadium, something many members of ownership have been vocal about in recent years. A bigger and more modern stadium would help boost their financial status and improve their standing in the eyes of fans and players, but the cold reality at the moment is that Fiorentina doesn’t draw enough fans to fill Artemio Franchi let alone a new stadium. For the time being Montella will need to settle for improved facilities when finances allow, perhaps a few more seasons in the Champions League will put enough in the bank to push a new stadium forward. The other factor hanging over owner Rocco Commisso’s head is keeping Montella in the fold, if the team continues to over perform Bayer 04 Leverkusen isn't going to be the last team to try and hire him away.

acf is a good team and you have ribery anthing is possible

The next twelve months are set to be intriguing, that's for sure.

Tactically there won’t be any changes to the roster, but there are hopes that some of the players coming in will boost an effective approach. Vincenzo Montella’s tactics were the real star of last season, with few players considered elite (especially with Federico Chiesa leaving town) the team managed to be better than the sum of its parts. If Montella can get better play out of his wing players, the wing backs and inside forwards, they could be even more impressive. This team is built to play well domestically, with Montella’s more attacking style at odds with the rest of Serie A, and his midfield set up does well against teams that play a midfield diamond or three centerbacks. No matter who is on the team they are set up to crush opponents on defense and score from a number of sources.

Goalkeepers
After the luckiest season Montella could possibly imagine when it came to goalkeeping, he now has an embarrassment of riches. Bartłomiej Drągowski (23) was an absolute iron man for Fiorentina last year, he started in (56) games and played so well he might be a hot transfer target this year. He also played so well that he landed a new contract that makes him the second highest paid player on the squad (£5.2M / year), which only made things more complicated. Alban Lafont (22) is finally back after two solid years on loan at FC Nantes, and there is quite a bit of arguing about who should be the first choice keeper. This is where the long term planning portion of the job gets hard, but on some level the choice for 2021-22 is easy. Lafont is currently being paid a fraction of what Drągowski makes (£950K) and he’s a year younger, but after starting every single game for Fiorentina and doing an amazing job at it Montella would be crazy to drop Drągowski. After having Michele Cerofolini (22) as Drągowski’s only back up, a total disaster if Drągowski were injured, it’s a massive boost to have Lafont able to fill in and take over all second squad duties. With Lafont’s contract set to expire in 2023 his willingness to sign a new deal, and how much that deal amounts to, may decide if either one is sold in the near future. Beyond Drągowski and Lafont, Montella only has teenagers with no experience above U-20 to choose from.

Best Player : Bartłomiej Drągowski



Defenders
Montella has it easy in goal, but the defense is where he will be made or broken. This is where the Icarus comparison comes in, after having the best defense in Serie A the second squad is being blown up in a high-risk / high-reward gambit that could either see Fiorentina soar or come crashing down to earth. The first choice pairing in central defense is the same with Armando Izzo (29) and Lyanco (24) coming back as a very solid team, they were a big part of allowing the least goals in Serie A and held their own against some of the best strikers in the league and in Europe. Backing them up are youngsters Roberto Cannata (17) and Alberigo Maldini (18), coaches and scouts cannot stop raving about these two and believe they could be the future of Fiorentina. While neither are better than Jacob Rasmussen (24) or Federico Ceccherini (29) right now, both shipped out over the summer, their chances of being significantly better are worth seeing if they will sink or swim.

If Daniele Pradè and Montella have done one thing well through transfers and player development it's been stockpiling wingbacks. Luca Pellegrini (22) and Pol Lirola (23) are back and look like some of the best purchases Montella has made, while Pellegrini remains well paid and under contract for some time Lirola’s contract has made him an attractive target for some of the bigger teams in Europe. The two of them are perfect for Montella and won’t be going anywhere unless someone drops a massive pile of cash at the steps of Artemio Franchi and even then Montella will need to think twice about it. Gilberto (28), Cristiano Biraghi (28), Aleksa Terzić (21), Luca Ranieri (22), and Lorenzo Venuti (26) are all gone. If that sounds like every senior wingback not named Pellegrini or Lirola that’s because it is, the second squad will be made up of high flying newcomers RB Federico Marino (16) and local hero Florentino Firenze (18) at LB. This is a similar gambit, if more dangerous, as CB with some players who could turn out to be incredible. Everyone who was sold was either not good enough (Ranieri, Venuti) or had an expiring contract coming up and Fiorentina didn’t want to give them a new one so Montella may have been forced into this situation. Firenze is likely a smaller risk, he’s been nothing but impressive since arriving in Montella’s first year and obviously needs the challenge of senior squad football. Marino is much more of a risk, he clearly asserted himself as one of the best youth prospects at Fiorentina but the preseason will be his first taste of senior level play. If Fiorentina dip into the market, after shedding so many players they deemed unnecessary, it will be for a RB to give Marino more time. Smoke Monday (16) is another option, but he’s a lateral move from Marino, although he can play both sides and might have the advantage of coming off the bench.

Best Player : Armando Izzo

Midfielders
The midfield will be Fiorentina’s non-GK rock this season, everyone comes back and there doesn't appear to be any substantial changes. There will likely be some shuffling of roles, but the players commanding the middle of the field won’t change from last season which should allow the defensive restructuring to go more smoothly. Filip Jagiello (23), another one of Montella’s excellent signings, appears to be taking over the deep lying playmaker role for the first team as Erick Pulgar (27) either moves to the second squad or the box-to-box midfield role. Captain Marco Benassi (26) is still in the running for first team BBM duty, but he can also handle DLP with Gaetano Castrovilli (24) his backup or second squad partner. All of them are under contract through at least 2024 and all of them did a great job manning the double pivot, Montella is set here with his only concern being a good bench option. If Fiorentina spend any money on midfielders it might be for someone who can play DLP and BBM to come off the bench.

The central attacking midfield torch appears to have been passed to Pelayo Morilla (19) who really asserted himself as a scoring threat late in the season. Evander (23) moves to the second squad but could easily bump Morilla if he doesn’t play as well. This is another part of the roster that is set and should help the defensive rebuild move more smoothly.

Best Player : Marco Benassi (Captain)

Forwards
More desperately needed stability, but this may be the last year for a few forwards. Montella has been stockpiling outside wingers, all able to play his inside forward role, and he’s heading for a talented log jam in the next few seasons. Talles Magno (19) looked like a God on the field at times and has completely seized LW for himself, Martin Terrier (23) was also an incredible signing and Montella won’t feel too bad if Magno cedes playing time due to injuries. RW remains Riccardo Orsolini’s (24) with a solid first season in Florence with Abdou Fall (18) doing enough off the bench to earn a spot in the second squad. Tòfol Montiel (21) was good, but RW became so crowded that he became the odd man out and got sold. Eugenio Barzini (18) is on the bench again with a few talented youngsters looking over his shoulder. It will take a lot of serious injuries to make this group a mess. The purchase of Terrier last year has managed to keep Daniel Maldini (20) in a position where he needs to be loaned out again, a deal was quickly struck to send him to AC Milan for a year with the hopes that he develops enough to supplant Terrier or command a hefty transfer fee.

Pedro (24) started off last year a tad slow but came on strong at the end. The time spent scoring in the Europa League hurt his ability to retain the Serie A scoring title, but Montella can’t afford to be too worried about awards over wins. Dušan Vlahović (21) was aching for a new contract but instead finds himself being sold off to make way for Degnand Wilfried Gnonto (18) who had a solid year at Serie B side Pisa on loan. Gnonto was purchased from Inter in Montella’s first year and he gets the first shot as the next Pedro, for once Montella is spoiled for choices beyond the senior squad. All of them are teens but Hélder Lavado (17), Gianluca De Napoli (17), and Alberto Fabrizio (17) won’t think twice about taking Gnonto’s place if he doesn’t perform well. Vlahović looked like the next Pedro, but he really dropped off last year and chose a bad time to force a contract fight. Lavado is the heavier long term favorite, but he’s likely to be loaned out to give him more first team football above the U-20 team.

Best Player : Pedro (Vice-Captain)

An attractive squad at Montella's disposal for the year ahead. Vlahovic's departure is a surprise but there's a clear structure and plan in place. Trust in Montella!

Fiorentina has taken the first step toward financial security by managing to upgrade their kit manufacturer and sponsor. It was a pleasant surprise that Nike was willing to bid on their kit, with Adidas uninterested and companies like Kappa and Uhlsport a little more aggressive than Le Coq Sportif few even thought Nike was an option. Looks like having an owner with American business connections turned out to be a good thing. Vodafone is a bit of an upgrade over VAR Group, it’s going to take a while to land a big sponsorship deal.


Clean and simple concepts this year with the return of yellow. While these aren’t going to drive sales it will make I Viola look sharp on the field.

Neat and tidy shirts. Lovely.

For the first time in Vincenzo Montella’s tenure Fiorentina are going abroad for the preseason. Montella was reluctant to leave Italy, but owner Rocco Commisso has been very vocal about his desire to take the team to New York in order to build their brand in the United States. The team had a very busy schedule of media events around games against New York’s two MLS teams, not what Montella would have wanted with a number of young players coming into the squad but this is what needed to be done to help the club financially.


If Commisso was worried after Bayer 04 Leverkusen approached Montella he probably messed his pants when the team returned from New York. Bayern Munich came calling and approached Montella for an interview, Hans-Dieter Flick did make it past the end of last season and the Bavarian club has been hunting for a replacement. Montella’s 4-2-3-1 would fit in well at Bayern Munich, but he declined the invitation to remain at Fiorentina.

Bayern's advances highlight the work Montella has achieved. A flattering offer but there's an unfinished project in Florence.

Vencenzo Montella did some serious house cleaning this summer while fending off some interest from a bigger club. Just about anyone who wasn’t good enough to take a spot in the first squad, or the club didn’t want to sign to a new deal, found themselves being shipped out to free up salary. With a number of youth players being promoted to the second squad there was no longer any room for older players with second squad or bench ceilings. Some contract disputes also caused players to be sold off, like Dušan Vlahović and Federico Ceccherini, paying backups like the guys they backup isn’t good business for Fiorentina. Zero senior transfers might look alarming, but Montella has traded a high floor / low ceiling roster for a low floor / high ceiling approach that could see the team soar.

Pol Lirola became the hot commodity, and might end up being sold soon, as Borussia Dortmund came calling with a £28M offer for the RB. While Lirola wasn’t particularly upset that he wasn’t sold, inside sources report that he is interested in a new contract that would make him the third highest paid player at the club. Fiorentina seems hesitant to be locked into something like that with a number of youth players waiting to come up, it’s likely he will be signed to a deal slightly under his asking price.

Senior / Major Transfers (Out)
Cristiano Biraghi (LB, Lazio) £6.75M
Dušan Vlahović (ST, Brescia) £5M
Tòfol Montiel (RW, Villarreal) £4.6M
Aleksa Terzić (LB, Cagliari) £3.6M
Gilberto (RB, Sassuolo) £3.5M
Jacob Rasmussen (CB, Benfica) £3.4M
Federico Ceccherini (CB, Cagliari) £3.2M
Riccardo Sottil (RW, Oud-Heverlee Leuven) £3.1M
Federico Ricci (RW, Norwich) £2.6M
Lorenzo Venuti (RB, Crystal Palace) £2.6M
Szymon Zurkowski (CM, Galatasaray) £2.1M
Michele Cerofolini (GK, Empoli) £87K

Senior Transfers (In)
None

Final Transfer List (Impact Signings)
Rossano Gemignani (RB, Siena - Italy) £3.8M
Pedrinha (CAM, Boavista - Portugal) £2.7M
Xabier Agirre (CB, Athletic Bilbao - Spain) £2.5M
José Carlos (CAM, Guarani FC - Brazil) £2.0M
Daniel Berodia (RB, Deportivo de La Coruña - Spain) £1.9M
Javi Soriano (LW/CAM, Atlético Madrid - Spain) £775K
Sinan Pasha (CM, ES Sahel - Tunisia) £400K
Curicó (CF, Palmeiras - Brazil) £300K
Carlo Olivetti (RB, Lazio - Italy) £250K
Gerardo Marchetti (CB, Juventus- Italy) £230K
Alberto Fabrizio (CF, Roma - Italy) £220K
Souleymane Bamba (GK, ASEC Mimosas - Ivory Coast) £200K
Hamza Sangaré (RW, Al Talaba - Iraq) £40K
Mamadou Kanté (RB, ASPIRE Academy - Senegal) £2K

With restrictions on non-EU player signing, and an appetite for non-Italian players to supplement their youth ranks, Fiorentina has shifted their scouting approach to focus on EU Nationals. The scouting department is still heavily invested in Italy, but Daniele Pradè and Vincenzo Vergine were allowed to hire additional scouts that specialize in the EU. Scouts specializing in France, Spain, Portugal, and Germany were added to try and expand their range a little more. Internally Fiorentina would like to be more active in France, Pradè believes there are a lot of very good players that represent value to be had.

The signing causing the most buzz, among many, is Pedrinha. He has been compared to current I Viola CAM Pelayo Morilla and shows so much talent that Portugal and Brazil are ramping up for a fight to bring him into their U-19 national sides. The other exciting players are all dual-nationals; Hamza Sangaré (France), Mamadou Kanté (France), José Carlos (Portugal), Souleymane Bamba (France), Curicó (Portugal), and Sinan Pasha (France).

Interesting that the senior side has been neglected to focus on the youth side of things. Let's hope it pays off.

The first half of the 2021-22 season would see Fiorentina live up to their potential, at least in Italy, as the team would pick up right where they left off last season. Vincenzo Montella would have the most trouble dealing with the Champions League, at first they appeared to be out of their element but managed to right the ship and put up some stunning results.


GROUP F
Manchester City (England)
Lyon (France)
Fiorentina (Italy)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)

This did not work out well for Fiorentina, but it could clearly have been worse. Manchester City, still managed by Pep Guardiola, continue to be a global force and are heavy favorites to win this group and the Champions League. Lyon are going to be very tough competitions, led by Julian Draxler they have a talented squad that should help them get by Fiorentina. Shakhtar Donetsk are not going to be easy to beat, especially in Ukraine, Fiorentina will likely need to beat them twice if they have any chance of advancing.




With Fiorentina ripping through Serie A the Champions League was a rude awakening. They opened up the group by losing 1-0 to Manchester City and 2-0 to Lyon before halting their descent with a 1-1 draw at Shakhtar Donetsk. The loss to Lyon was particularly disappointing as they outplayed the hosts but gave up both goals on set pieces. The team that showed up in the Champions League looked completely different from the one crushing Serie A up to that point, the draw with Shakhtar Donetsk put Montella in a never ending series of must-win games to finish out the group. Fiorentina was able to do that at first, beating Shakhtar Donetsk 4-0 while Lyon and Manchester City drew 1-1 to give Montella a terrible gauntlet to run.

The 1-0 loss to Fiorentina at home was not encouraging for a trip to the Etihad. With Manchester City looking up at Lyon, who beat them in their first meeting, Fiorentina was now standing between Guardiola and a place in the next round. Manchester City came out in their 4-1-2-3, a formation Montella has trouble with, and few expected Fiorentina to be able to pull this one off.

At first it looked like Guardiola would get his way, Pol Lirola went down at 11’ and had to come off for Federico Marino. One of Fiorentina’s best players, and a key member of the attack, being removed early put the momentum in Guardiola’s corner. Federico Marino didn’t seem to care too much about being thrown in against one of the best teams in the world, in fact he would thrive during the first half. It helped that Manchester City didn’t look like themselves as Fiorentina took it to the hosts. The first shot was fired at 33’ when Marino brought the ball up wide, drawing two defenders near the corner of the box and passed back to Riccardo Orsolini. He drove forward himself, now unmarked, and sent a low cross to the back post level from the front of the goal area. It curled beyond Manchester City’s back line and found Talles Magno for a surprising 1-0 lead. Maybe the shock of being down put them off, or maybe things were really turning against them, but Marino and Magno would combine just a few minutes later on a similar exchange to go up 2-0. Magno’s ability to lurk out wide and crash inside at just the right time had been key to shocking their hosts.

Manchester City’s lax manner in the first half was cleared up after the break, being down 2-0 also helped Guardiola motivate his squad. Manchester City looked like they would not be denied, and a cross from Kevin De Bruyne to Bernardo Silva started the turnaround at 62’. Bernardo would take the ball out of the air and score a stunning goal from the far right of the box, left unmarked it was easy for him to square up to the ball and hammer it past Drągowski. Only down 2-1 with almost 30’ to go, it certainly felt like the hosts had this game in hand. Drągowski was about to have the busiest half hour of his life, with City pouring it on and practically living in Fiorentina’s third of the field. All the possession, all the tiki-taka, didn’t actually amount to much more after the Bernardo goal. They looked very threatening and in charge, but little of it turned into shots on goal and Fiorentina’s back line and deep midfielders managers to keep them mostly out of the box. Every rushed pass in the face of pressure found Jagiello or Castrovilli, and the counter attack was on.

With stoppage time counting down Manchester City came on like a heart attack, Fiorentina looked like they were playing in slow motion against an aggressive attack that looked bound to score at any moment. With 4’ of stoppage time announced, at 90+3’ Raphaël Varane sent a hard low cross into the box from near the end line and Leroy Sané slipped in and put it in the back of the net. Chaos broke out, with Manchester City bursting into a celebration and Montella losing his temper on the nearest ref. The flag was up, and now it was Guardiola’s turn to lose his temper. A lengthy discussion ended with the officials confirming that Sané was offside, a few kicks of the ball was enough to blow the whistle and the game was over.

The win would be absolutely massive, saving Fiorentina from being eliminated and giving them another must-win game to stay alive. Fiorentina and Manchester City were now tied on (7) points, but Fiorentina had the advantage by (1) goal on differential. Manchester City would face Shakhtar Donetsk last, and Fiorentina would face Lyon, winning by more than Manchester City would be quite a hurdle.


Outside of the Champions League Fiorentina looked more like Juventus and less like a team trying to win their first league title. In September, already 1st in the league, Fiorentina went right through Roma and Inter with 2-0 wins that rarely looked in doubt. Even when Lyanco was sent off at 79’ against Roma the team looked comfortable holding the lead. A 2-2 draw at Atalanta, the first game of September, actually turned out to be the start of a surprising defensive streak. A 3-0 win over Milan in December marked (12) games in a row without conceding in the league, the streak was broken in a 2-1 loss to Juventus that still left Fiorentina (4) points clear in 1st.

Their defensive performance wasn’t the only surprise, although they did finish with Serie A’s best offense last year, they were winning big almost every week. A bizarre 0-0 draw at Empoli in the Derby dell’Arno was the outlier at that time, Fiorentina would score (4) or more in (7) games which included an 8-0 demolition of Cittadella. They weren’t just blasting relegation fodder, Lazio (4-0) and Torino (4-0) would also end up on the wrong end of I Viola. As the calendar would turn to 2022 Fiorentina would sit 1st in goals scored (53) and 1st in goals allowed (6), a stunning total over (18) league games. Montella has managed to build a team able to weather problems on both sides of the ball, could this be the season that earns I Viola their first scudetto?

In the Champions League the surprise win over Manchester City turned out to be the spark I Viola needed, following that up with a resounding 4-0 win against Lyon at home. Manchester City went down 2-0 to Shakhtar Donetsk before storming back to a 4-2 win, but the goal differential killed them and Fiorentina finished 2nd in the group with Lyon first. They would be unlucky to draw Arsenal in the next round, but after taking down one English giant they should be ready to face another.




Martin Terrier is starting to feel some heat with Daniel Maldini having one hell of a season at Milan. Maldini is 2nd in scoring in Serie A with (12), just behind Pedro with (13), and he looks more than ready to take over the second squad LW slot. Terrier’s days might be numbered, which is probably why he’s been vocal about not getting enough starts. In terms of Serie A, every position award went to a Fiorentina player but Lirola somehow managed not to make the Team Of The Year.


European Golden Boy : Daniel Maldini - (13) Goals / (4) assists
Serie A GK of the Year : Bartłomiej Drągowski
Serie A Defender of the Year : Pol Lirola
Serie A Midfielder of the Year : Filip Jagiello
Serie A Forward of the Year : Pedro


Overall, a rather lucky half season in terms of injuries. Yes, there were a few that hurt but a whole position never got hit and the fixtures worked out to where Montella never had to dip into the youth system for long. Losing Luca Pellegrini for (4) weeks at the beginning of the season hurt, but Florentino Firenze and Smoke Monday managed to fill in rather well. Losing Erick Pulgar late in the first half, for (7) weeks, to a broken rib turned out to be the worst situation. At one point Filip Jagiello and Gaetano Castovilli, now a 1st squad regular, were both exhausted and Marco Benassi was suspended. Rather than grind Jagiello and Castrovilli into dust Montella had to call up Daniele Albano and Franck Blanc to man the DLP/BBM midfield pairing.

Well done. It has been a great start for Montella this season. The Champions League group was exceptionally difficult but the lads overcame it. Arsenal have a lot to be concerned about!

With the season Vincenzo Montella is having, you don’t want to tinker. Plus, Fiorentina don’t really have much money to spend on more players. Salary is actually starting to become a major issue for the squad as a number of players start complaining about their contract. There are only a few players the club would consider resigning, but they will need to do it after the season as others get cleared off the books.

Montella spent more time trying to fend off insane offers from other clubs. Pol Lirola was a known commodity on the transfer market with Liverpool (£34.5M), Bayern Munich (£37.5M), and Manchester United (£54M) piling on. Those numbers are crazy, but giving up one of their best defenders wasn’t an option at this point. Bayer 04 Leverkusen, not content with trying to steal Fiorentina’s manager, went in for a £59M bid for Talles Magno. If those numbers were eye popping the insanity that developed around Filip Jagiello and Martin Terrier would be mind blowing. Borussia Dortmund moved from Lirola to Jagiello with a £35M bid followed by Bayern Munich submitting multiple offers that topped out at £57M. For some perspective on those offers, Montella purchased Jagiello for £2.5M in the middle of his 2019-20 season. Things got really out of hand when Manchester City started coming for Terrier, who was already not happy about his playing time, and it blew up into a situation that Montella really wanted to take advantage of. Pep Guardiola took to the media after lodging a £14.5M bid for Terrier which got Lazio (£20.5M), Chelsea (£31M), and Benfica (£41.5M) involved. The rejected bids did little to sway Guardiola as they came back with ever increasing bids ending in a £77M offer for Fiorentina’s second choice LW. That’s £12M more than Federico Chiesa went for, if Fiorentina weren’t in the middle of a historic charge for their first Serie A title they would have made that move in a heartbeat. Hopefully they won’t go on to regret turning it down.



The only good news that came out of the constant attacks was Alban Lafont signing a new deal. AS Monaco and Real Betis came calling with £7.5M offers, no way he would be moved for that, but the interest spurred Lafont to ask for a new contract. Inside sources report that Fiorentina have been worried that Lafont would ask for a contract north of £4M a year like Bartłomiej Drągowski, but instead he requested a backup level deal for £1.9M, a comfortable increase from his current £900K deal.

Senior / Major Transfers (Out)
None

Senior Transfers (In)
None

Final Transfer List (Impact Signings)
Cristiano Romário (RW, Varzim SC - Portugal) £1.3M
Mohamed Yellès (LW, FC Sochaux-Montbéliard - France) £1.1M
Lucas Casaña (LW, AGF - Spain) £775K
Kike Moreno (CAM, Elche - Spain) £600K
Pedro Luis Román (RW, Real Betis - Spain) £575K
Mauro Luciano (CM, Club Atlético Colón - Argentina) £550K
Luis Felipe De Napoli (RW, San Miguel - Argentina) £425K
Juninho Rivellino (RW, Cruziero - Brazil) £400K
Jouni Rantanen (GK, Käpylän Pallo Helsinki - Finland) £100K

More EU Nationals join with insiders absolutely raving about a few of their snags. It’s hard to find someone at Fiorentina who isn’t excited about Mohamed Yellès, who was purchased for pennies. He’s probably behind Giuseppe Viola on the future LW pecking order, but he has caused a split in the organization as to who will be a better player. Viola is closer to the senior squad after being out on loan, but Yellès might have the higher ceiling and he’s barely 16. For less than £3M Fiorentina may have found their 1st and 2nd squad LW of the future, assuming Magno is going to ask to be sold at some point. The other exciting player is Juninho Rivellino, being able to land him for £400K is something Montella couldn’t pass us. At just 16 he’s already made The Guardian’s Next Generation list and often gets compared to Ronaldinho for his skills on the ball, time will tell if he can make his way through the crowded RW depth chart at Fiorentina.

Some of those offers are ridiculous. Some absolutely massive offers and some quite frankly insulting offers. Good luck for the season ahead.