Now that we’ve all had a nice break for the winter/summer holidays (delete where appropriate), it’s about time we returned to work. Welcome to the fourth – and final – regular season of “Shades of Deep Purple” on Fuller FM.
Last season saw Fiorentina finally secure a return to the Champions League, after over a decade away. The Viola are now ready to step up to the next level, and maybe even threaten Inter’s recent stranglehold on the Serie A scudetto. Okay, maybe I’m getting a little carried away, but I’m honestly feeling quite excited after such a strong transfer window. (The updated title image should give you a good idea about one of the players we’ve signed.)
Before I move on to all our transfer business, though, I must update you on some news from elsewhere. That’s because there was a small chance I might not have been managing Fiorentina for another season after all…
CHILDHOOD DREAM
There was a bit of a managerial merry-go-round going on this summer. It began with Jürgen Klopp stepping down from Liverpool to become the new manager of Bayern München, who’d sacked Niko Kovac. I can already imagine thousands of football hipsters crying into their mugs of root beer at the mere thought of Klopp coaching Bayern.
Unai Emery then left Arsenal (in the Champions League) to take the vacancy at Liverpool (in the Europa League), because that’s Football Manager logic for you. Arsenal now needed a new manager, and I was said to be amongst the leading candidates for the role. Naturally, being a boyhood Gooner, I was very interested in the job.
I attended an interview with owner Stan Kroenke (yeah, as if he conducts interviews), after which I was installed as one of the bookmakers’ favourites for the job. My odds shortened further when Luis Enrique – arguably by main rival for the role – took over the Roma vacancy instead.
If Arsenal offered me the job, I would have a very difficult decision to make. Would I continue my Fiorentina project for a fourth season (as planned), or would I take the opportunity to take the team I love back to the top of English and European football? In the end, though, it wouldn’t be up to me…
Huh, funny. That old housewives’ favourite Antonio Conte actually beat me for once. I’m not sure how I feel about an ex-Chelsea man taking the Arsenal job, but I’m hoping he’s better than he was during his second stint at Juventus. He couldn’t do much worse, for sure.
And so, after a brief dalliance with Arsenal, I fully committed myself to another year with the Viola. By then, my squad for the new campaign was taking shape, as you’ll now see…
TRANSFERS OUT
Radamel Falcao retired this summer, having scored as many Fiorentina goals as our kitman. Several insignificant youngsters who were never first-team ready were also released. We did, though, make around €35million through the sales of seven players:
I don’t think many of you will be surprised that Domenico Berardi has left us after two seasons, especially when you see who we signed to replace him. Berardi will now be partying in south Wales, having completed a €20million move to a Swansea side who’ve just ended a three-year exile from the Premier League.
Domenico’s former club Sassuolo snapped up a couple of our surplus players. We recouped the €750,000 we spent on backup goalkeeper Francesco Bardi when a new signing made him obsolete. He would later be joined at the Neroverdi by Santi Mina, on whom we made a €4million profit despite the Spanish striker’s failure to live up to expectations.
After a miserable season on loan in Switzerland, attacking midfielder Riccardo Saponara ended his four-year association with Fiorentina. Saponara was snapped up by La Liga side Leganés for €3.5million, which was not as much as I was expecting, though it had to do.
I also had to compromise to get Vítor Hugo off the wage bill. Though the 30-year-old centre-half had been a fine servant to the Viola, younger defenders had outshone him, and so it was time to look to the future. I wished him the very best of luck on his new adventure with Club Brugge in the Belgian Pro League.
Left-back David Hancko was moved on to newly-promoted Carpi for a cut-price fee. Despite putting in some impressive shifts early last season, he was ultimately not good enough to seriously challenge Cristiano Biraghi‘s place in the team. Likewise, winger Tòfol Montiel didn’t fulfill his potential and will now rebuild his career in Serie C.
Several prospects who did still have futures at the Artemio Franchi were loaned out for additional first-team experience. Three would ply their trade in Serie A (more on them later), while Ivorian midfielder Robert Goualy would get a taste of Primeira Liga football with Braga.
After a full pre-season with us, Abdou Diakhaté was loaned out to Benevento – newly-promoted to Serie B. Diakhaté’s development has slowed of late, and with his contract due to expire next summer, this is the Senegalese middleman’s last chance to save his Fiorentina career. The same is also true of Bulgarian centre-back Petko Hristov, who too will spend this campaign with Benevento.
After an injury-hit campaign at Perugia, left-back Luca Ranieri was loaned to Venezia in an effort to get him back on track. Hopes remain high for left-winger André Cerqueira at Crotone, as well as for goalkeeper Simone Ghidotti and forward Stefano Rega at Ternana. Despite playing regular Serie B football last season, right-back Edoardo Pierozzi stepped down to Serie C to take advantage of Piacenza’s training facilities.
TRANSFERS IN
That’s €73million worth of summer signings, including one loanee and a couple of freebies. Let’s kick things off by looking at the latter:
If you want an experienced marksman who works his socks off for the team, then Mario Mandzukic is… well, the man. Yes, the former Croatia striker might be 35 now, but he hasn’t lost much physical ability, and a player with his perfectionism can greatly influence our younger strikers for at least one season, if not two.
Mandzukic scored 26 goals for our hated rivals Juventus only three seasons ago, before being phased out by then-manager Massimiliano Allegri. He’s since had a brief sojourn in Dorset (as you do), netting nine Premier League goals in a vain attempt to keep Bournemouth up.
Mario will be our main centre-forward while also mentoring two exciting young talents who are waiting in the wings to replace him when he retires. Belgian wonderkid José Luis Sánchez (17) was also a free signing, having become available when he refused to renew terms with Mechelen. JLS will contend with the returning Dusan Vlahovic (21) to be Mandzukic’s deputy this season.
Despite being our star performer last season, Biraghi needs serious competition at left-back. Brazilian-born Italy international Emerson will offer that for the coming season, having arrived on loan. The attacking wing-back has impressive technical ability and explosive pace.
Unlike the departed Bardi, André Onana is a second-choice goalkeeper whom I can wholeheartedly trust whenever Alban Lafont is unavailable or in need of a rest. The Cameroonian already has significant experience for a 25-year-old, having spent several seasons in Ajax’s starting XI and played in a Europa League Final. With that in mind, €6.5million looks like a snip.
And now for the transfer you’ve been waiting for! Federico Bernardeschi‘s planned return to the Franchi might have fallen through in January, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Less than five months later, Paris Saint-Germain lowered their asking price from €41million to a bargain €18million, and Federico in turn lowered his wage demands to €100,000 per week.
Bernardeschi first broke into the Fiorentina first-team in 2014, but it’d be fair to say that things haven’t worked out for him since his controversial move to Juventus three years later. Even so, the left-footed inside-forward still has exceptional dribbling ability and creativity. His description as an “elite winger” is not hyperbole.
Now aged 27, Bernardeschi should be at the peak of his abilities. If he and namesake Federico Chiesa can hit top form over the coming seasons, our tifosi should have ample reason to celebrate.
Also taking the well-trodden road from France to Florence is this tireless midfield aggressor. I’d been tracking Antonio Napolitano since he broke into Metz’ first-team over a year ago, when he was just 16. €3million was virtual daylight robbery for someone who could seriously threaten Lucas Tousart‘s starting place in the not-too-distant future.
After Napolitano put in some impressive pre-season performances for us, Serie A newcomers Spezia asked to take him on loan on deadline day, and I accepted their offer. I look forward to seeing if he can make the step up to top-flight football at such a young age.
Belaïd Nemdil was another 17-year-old who’d caught my scouts’ attention while playing in Ligue 2, featuring at the heart of Toulouse’s defence. Negotiations to sign the France Under-21s starlet were rather longer than we took to recruit Napolitano, but a fee potentially rising to €10million proved to be enough.
Though Nemdil’s bravery and positional awareness are admirable for someone so youthful, not all is well in his garden. At the end of pre-season, Belaïd admitted to me that he was struggling to settle in Italy. It took no little persuasion to stop him returning to France before his Fiorentina career had really started. That wasn’t all, though…
Nemdil had also kicked up a fuss when I bought Daniele Rugani from Liverpool for €45million, believing that the 27-year-old Azzurri ace would replace him. Au contraire, Belaïd, because Daniele is the world-class central defender whose place you should be striving to take in a few years’ time!
In my recent Football Manager career, I’ve made a habit of forking out club-record fees for defenders. Looking at Rugani’s attributes (especially his marking, positioning and strength), you could perhaps understand why I went all-out for him. Let’s just skim over the fact that he too was a former Juventus player, lest the fans start fretting that I’ll sign Cristiano Ronaldo and Leonardo Bonucci next…
Admittedly, my number 1 target for a new Italian centre-back was not Rugani, but 23-year-old ‘model citizen’ Marco Varnier. We agreed an initial €30million fee with Atalanta for Varnier, but he rejected our contract offer and took a more attractive deal with Arsenal instead. Stupid sexy Conte.
My summer spending spree ended on deadline day, with two teenage defenders arriving from South America on the cheap. 19-year-old Yesid Gonzalez already has a senior Colombia cap to his name, and he could blossom into a very powerful centre-half in the future. Gonzalez already has very good concentration, which is just what I’m looking for in a defender.
Fiorentina supporters might also want to remember Foguete‘s name. The 18-year-old Brazilian right-back has a ‘Driven’ personality and has been earmarked as a potential successor to Almamy Touré at right-back. Just hours after signing from Internactional, he was sent on loan to Empoli, where he’ll play alongside another Viola prospect in Romania forward Alexandru Mățan.
PRE-SEASON
To be honest, I couldn’t have wished for a worse start to pre-season. Captain Germán Pezzella had a recurring knee injury from earlier in his career, and he tore his knee ligaments again during our first week back. Pezzella would now be on the sidelines until October at the earliest.
As it transpired, injuries would have a signifiant effect on our preparations for the new campaigns. Central defender Alessandro Bastoni and last season’s top scorer Valentin Eysseric each missed significant chunks of pre-season and would need to be nursed back into competitive action.
In terms of results, we started off pretty well. Though Serie D minnows Seregno held out for a little over half an hour, Patrick Roberts‘ opener kicked off a rout. Jordan Veretout and Marco Benassi each scored from scorching efforts in the second half in between a debut strike by Sánchez. After a slow start, we had run out comfortable 4-0 winners.
In contrast, we flew out of the traps against Venezia from Serie B, with two of our most high-profile signings immediately getting off the mark. Bernardeschi struck twice during his first appearance in a purple jersey since 2017, while Mandzukic also found the net to quickly settle himself. Venezia made life more difficult for us after the break, and so the 3-0 half-time score was left unchanged.
Our two-game tour of the eastern United States began ingloriously, as we failed to tame the New York Red Bulls. In hindsight, this was probably not the right time to test out the latest version of my counter-attacking tactic. It did at least stop New York from getting a shot on target, though, so that was something at least.
We then paid a visit to Wayne Rooney at his multi-million-dollar retirement home in Washington. At half-time, it looked like he and his chums at DC United would hold us to another disappointing goalless draw.
Then Chiesa took matters into his own hands, scoring a wonderful solo goal before finding the net again from a cross by young winger Riccardo Sottil. After United’s left-back was sent off for a reckless challenge, Abdou Diakhaté secured victory with a third goal, though the hosts did nick a late consolation.
After that, it was off to Livorno for ‘The Paddy Roberts Show’, where the left-footed Londoner ripped the Serie C side apart. Roberts provided a hat-trick of assists for Rugani, Christian Nørgaard and Veretout, with Vlahovic netting our other goal from the penalty spot.
We then prepared for our Champions League exploits with back-to-back home games against former European champions. Ajax were first up, and the Dutch dynamos gave us a very stern test in a 2-2 draw. Bernardeschi scored another brace, only to see both his goals cancelled out by an 18-year-old attacking midfielder of real promise. That might not be the last you hear of Sven Schendelaar…
Another reason for concern was Roberts pulling his calf muscle, not long after setting up Bernardeschi’s first goal. Paddy had provided five assists in as many friendlies, but the in-form Englishman was now a major doubt for our Serie A opener.
Then came a result to savour: an impressive 1-0 win at home to Barcelona – Messi, Dembélé, et al. An incredible run from Emerson produced an assist for Vlahovic midway through the first half, after which we defended bravely to retain our lead. Despite having so many elite attacking talents, Thomas Tuchel’s charges kept firing blanks, and so our pre-season ended in the best possible manner.
PRE-SEASON REVIEW
Fiorentina have never lost a friendly under my stewardship, and that excellent record has continued for a fourth pre-season. The only blips this summer were a tame goalless stalemate in New York and a 2-2 home draw against an Ajax side who are probably just below our level. The only other team to score against us were DC United, which suggests we should be defensively solid again this season.
Bernardeschi had hit the ground running with four goals, while Chiesa, Veretout and Vlahovic had helped themselves to a couple apiece. While Mandzukic had only found the net once, I’m sure the goals will flow for him soon.
I took a huge decision just before the big kick-off. Three seasons after succeeding the late Davide Astori as captain, Pezzella agreed to hand the armband over to Chiesa on a full-time basis. Despite being courted by many major clubs, Federico is Viola through and through, and having the captaincy will hopefully inspire him to return to his very best.
Unfortunately, Chiesa would miss our first Serie A match this season after pulling his knee ligaments in training. Pezzella was also obviously unavailable, which meant Mandzukic’s Fiorentina debut would see him lead us out onto the Renato Dall’Ara against derby rivals Bologna.
Our goals are quite simple, really. If we can stay in Serie A’s top four and do ourselves justice in the Champions League, I’ll be a happy manager. I’d also like to see us go far in the Coppa Italia, where we’ll play either Spezia or Lecce in Round 1 at the end of the year.
As we’re almost certainly going to be fourth seeds in our Champions League pool, I can’t realistically aim for the knockout stages unless we get a very kind draw. Finishing at least 3rd – and thus ensuring that we have some continental football to look forward to in early 2022 – has to be the aim.
Though Inter are now the strongest team in Serie A by a significant margin, I’m hoping we can put more pressure on them at the top this term. We’ll have to be wary of the threats posed by Milan and Napoli as always, while I’m expecting Lazio and Roma to roar back after recent struggles. While I won’t completely discount a fightback from Juventus, they’ve not done a good job of replacing their ageing stars and thus might have another difficult campaign.
After our opening fixture at Bologna, we have back-to-back home games against Juventus and Pescara to look forward to. Following the September international break, we’ll visit SPAL before starting off our first Champions League campaign since 2009/2010. These are fascinating times for the Viola.
So, ladies and gentlemen, what do you make of our transfer dealings? Are we in good enough shape to compete in the Champions League and at the top of Serie A? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
I’ll hopefully be ready to publish a full squad and tactics report over the weekend. We’ll also have those aforementioned first three league games, including the visit of a Juventus team whose new head coach is… well, an interesting choice, that’s all I’ll say for now.
“Forza viola!”
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