Football Season Guide

Fiorentina

In


Bartlomiej Dragowski (gk)(Jagiellonia); Giuseppe Rossi (att)(Levante, end of loan); Kevin Diks (def)(Vitesse); Mario Gomez (att)(Besiktas, end of loan); Ianis Hagi (mid)(FC Viitorul); Hernan Toledo (mid)(Deportivo Maldonado, on loan); Ricardo Bagadur (def)(Salernitana, end of loan); Carlos Moreno Sanchez (mid)(Aston Villa, on loan)

Out


Yohann Benalouane (def)(Leicester, end of loan); Luigi Sepe (gk)(Napoli, end of loan); Ante Rebic (sp)(att)(Eintracht, on loan); Jakub Blaszczykowski (sp)(mid)(Borussia Dortmund, end of loan); Tino Costa (mid)(Spartak Mosca, end of loan); Manuel Pasqual (def)(released); Joshua Brillante (mid)(Sydney FC); Facundo Roncaglia (r)(def)(Celta Vigo); Panagiotis Kone (mid)(Udinese, end of loan); Cristian Tello (r)(mid)(Barcellona, end of loan); Marko Bakic (mid)(Sporting Braga)

The first part of the past season certainly gave Fiorentina the illusion that life without Montella was sweeter than they might have expected. In fact, up until the end of December, they had been fighting for the top 3, at times playing some good football. Coach Paulo Sousa, the new man at the helm, was seen as a Messiah and they held dreams of a return to the Champions League. Reality bites, though, and the Tuscans eventually ended sliding all the way down to the 5th standing of the table. While the Portuguese was desperately asking for more depth in the squad. Despite finding himself at odds with the club, Sousa remained in charge but, just like the past winter, he was not given what he wanted yet. While they hardly lost any relevant players during the summer, with the sole exception of Tello, who might however return on loan from Barcelona, and Roncaglia, whose performances were often too uneven, Fiorentina have not yet signed any jaw-dropping players. Youths like Diks, who should provide some cover in defence, Hagi, and Toledo, who is expected to add some spice on the wings, arrived alongside Carlos Sanchez, a pit-bull for the midfield, and they seem unlikely to excite the supporters’ imagination yet. Paradoxically, the return of Giuseppe Rossi could represent the most important signing of the summer. If in form, he could give their attack the consistency and the quality they lacked in the last months of the past campaign. The feeling is, though, that he is bound to quit such as Mario Gomez. This far, Fiorentina’s preseason was very poor and it is quite evident that they need more signings, especially in defence and up-front.

Target


Fiorentina seem unlikely to repeat all the good done last campaign. They might be fighting for a European spot but a meagre top 10 finish is something they might end up rejoicing for. The European campaign could also represent a heavy burden for a rather small squad.