Fiorentina have only ten days left to sell Vlahovic. The market closes on Monday 31st January and, on the nose, the time to set up and close an operation of this kind is no longer there. It is true that in football what is valid today tomorrow can be completely overturned, but beyond time, the real problem is that Vlahovic and his entourage have not given (for now) the slightest sign of wanting to leave Florence or want to enter into some negotiations now.
Arsenal’s proposal, as written several times, was strong and interesting for the Viola and for the player, but the English club had no response and there hasn’t been the slightest sign of interest from the Vlahovic clan. End.
According to the last but not least Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona would also have moved with the attorney Ristic apparently interested, but everything is postponed to next summer.
It had long been understood that Vlahovic did not want to leave.
He had confirmed this himself recently in the famous unauthorized Christmas interview with a Serbian newspaper.
Joe Barone revealed this, reiterating his anger at not being able to have a minimal dialogue with the player’s agent. Dusan casually said this to me too long ago in an absolutely fortuitous encounter, hastily replying, “January? no January no ”, to a specific question.
At Fiorentina, we have written it a thousand times, economically it would have been better to close the Vlahovic chapter now, this is the last market window to snatch a price of around 70-80 million. And in fact this was the figure proposed by Arsenal. But it would also have been agreed to definitively close a case and a problem, collect and plan new purchases for the future.
Patience, after all that the story would be complicated and with an ending to be written, similar to a thriller, it was practically everything in the press release last autumn when Rocco furibondo announced the breakdown of the negotiation for the renewal.
What will the purple club do now?
All that remains is to enjoy and exploit as long as possible the performances and goals that this boy is providing for Fiorentina despite everything. The fans will certainly be happy not to lose Vlahovic in January, but also the Italian: all the coaches in the world would like a striker like that.
And beyond the condemnable behavior of the player’s entourage and the possible economic loss, if you want to look at the downside, for sure with Vlahovic it will be easier for the Viola to stay in the top areas of the table until the end to try to return to Europe. And then, certainly part of the economic loss from the lack of winter sales, can be recovered by hitting a cup. In fact, from sponsors to visibility rights, the Fiorentina brand would certainly gain by increasing the overall level of the company.
Then it will also be a question of understanding how it will evolve the standoff between Rocco Commisso and his managers with the Serbian prosecutors who manage Vlahovic. If, going forward with the season, relations should remain zero or even worsen, there could also be a reaction from Fiorentina which up to now has only had to undergo unshared decisions.
Vlahovic in the stands? I do not know. Italian would never rule it out. But it could also happen later on since now there is another striker in the squad like Piatek.
And certainly the tension could rise to the maximum if Vlahovic were to say no to the sale next summer, aiming to free himself to zero in a year.
I go back to the ten days that remain. There are too few because the only club that came out, Arsenal in fact, did not receive any response. And the other contenders, from City to Chelsea, but also PSG (must sell Icardi) or Bayern, and even Atletico or Juve, will face the center forward discourse and resolve it in the summer with the famous tour that will begin with Mbappè and Haaland. Here, Vlahovic will return to that panorama if, as has always been suspected, he does not already have an agreement in his pocket. And perhaps, if the race for number nine involves many companies, the price could also hold. Maybe not the current 80 million, but probably over fifty.
The most incredible thing in this story and I see that now many are realizing it, is however what I immediately pointed out: saying no to the renewal with Fiorentina Vlahovic is losing more than 400 thousand euros a month. Since everyone likes money, it is very likely that there is someone behind it who is already taking care of the need. We’ll probably figure it out… just wait.
There remains the extraordinarily mature behavior of this boy who may be wrong as he did the other night with the spoon on penalty, but he knows how to handle situations. Not everyone is quick to apologize immediately, in the heat.
However, I believe that the closure of the market can contribute to talking less about Vlahovic and more about football in the interest of the Fiorentina standings. At least for a few weeks, then we’ll see.
And speaking of the transfer market, the real goals for next summer (apart from Vlahovic and the surrounding area) are two: goalkeeper and central defender. Two profiles are needed to help Fiorentina grow in the direction of the football traced and loved by the Italian.
Dragowski and Terracciano (especially the latter) have grown up and somehow have learned to restart the action from below and have also contributed to playing with their feet, but they are not of that school, of that culture. A better and quicker goalkeeper even with his feet would certainly help to increase the maneuver. The names are popping up, but for now they are analyzes and attempts. The Frenchman Fofana seems lost, but it was an idea. Like Cragno, Vicario or Provedel. The only sure thing? Dragowski will be sold in the summer because, beyond the technical arguments and doubts, he has the contract expiring in 2023 and it is worth closing to recover a few million euros.
But you also need a central defender who is good at defending, of course, but also skilled at playing, the kind of defensive playmaker that has been missing since the days of Gonzalo Rodriguez. It is not easy to find him, but Fiorentina are working in different directions. Quarta tries to play today with mixed results, Milenkovic adapts, but he too is expiring in 2023 and could become an interesting capital gain.
When Joe Barone says “we will be careful of the opportunities that arise” it means just that. Fiorentina is constantly monitoring the market and the strengthening of the scout sector behind the desk (not only Burdisso) is evident.
However, the present or future market must not distract from the great things this team is doing. I am not speaking only for the eleven goals scored against Napoli and Genoa, but for the overall growth, the increased ability to play, to move as the coach wants, to attack with intensity and have different solutions, to defend better.
The coach’s work is extraordinary and the margins for growth are still very high because if you think about it this group has been training for a different, more modern and spectacular football for just six months and the ultimate goal is to play by heart. It will still take time, but the rewards will come. And, of course, the higher the technical level of the players, the less time it takes to learn and to make more difficult plays. The demonstration is called Ikonè who in about sixty minutes played has already given two assists. He has just arrived, but his superior player status is already visible in how he moves and how he treats the ball. The role is not a problem, Italian football is also dynamism and exchange of positions. But don’t rush anyone, Sunday in Cagliari I still don’t expect Ikonè from the start. There will be the usual mini turn over with Fourth if he’s okay, probably Duncan. Pulgar also paws, but frankly to remove Torreira today (above all), but also the dynamism of the Maleh discovery, it takes courage.
In the meantime, the controversy over the Franchi stadium has not subsided and there will be discussion material for the next five years and beyond, I make a prediction. To confirm what we have always said and which basically meant Commisso, even a study by the English site “Money”, specialized in this type of analysis, placed Franchi in eleventh place among the ugliest football stadiums in Italy. Europe. There was no need for confirmation, those who frequent him know him and it is a pity that the municipal administration, after letting him go to pieces after the 1990 World Cup, rediscovered him only three years ago when the operation did not go through. Mercafir. We will now see what will happen in the next few years, but the story remains uphill despite the usual false optimisms. With the Superintendency already lurking.
And it does not console the fact that worse than the Franchi there is another stadium in the same province: the Castellani of Empoli. And then the politicians still talk …
Rocco also talks, but he also took action. He has opened another war front, has decided to sue the Gazzetta dello Sport of Urbano Cairo for an article deemed harmful and defamatory. Ball to the judges, obviously they will decide who is right, but as we know Cairo is also president of Torino. Rocco has also debunked the famous saying “a dog does not bite a dog”, he bites and how …
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