So the deal on Lafont is done. They do have an option on him. But we have a counter option on him. So, in the end, if we want to keep him, we can.
My guess is you'll use that counter and just flip him to a bigger club. I don't mind that deal at all, much better than originally reported.
Did you lose interest in those other leagues, or was it a matter of prioritising Fiorentina due to time constraint? These days, it almost feels like there is too much content available, and not enough time to watch even a fraction of it all. Serie A is my favourite league, but I like La Liga as well. While I don't have any Italian ancestry, I was born in Florence (parents were there for business for a few years in the 1990s) so I've been a Fiorentina fan for as long as I can remember. Admittedly, there were a few years in the early-2000s where the club vanished from my radar. The Prandelli era was when I started watching on a regular basis. If we can repeat those successful years during Commisso's reign, I'll be pleased.
I was excited when we signed Lafont from our purple brothers. The season didn't work out as hoped, but best of luck to him at Nantes (as Tatarusanu's replacement, btw). If Dragowski truly is our new starter, then I believe he & Chiesa are the only players from our 19/20 season squad that played under Paulo Sousa, excluding former players that might return this summer. Speaks volumes of our high player turnover in the last few years, doesn't it?
Not the action per se, but meant more the consequences of the suspension. Maybe plummeted was the wrong word here. There's a glaring hole in Argentina's central midfield left by Mascherano & Biglia, and an impressive showing at the Copa could've raised his stock even more.
Just time and priorities. I used to follow/watch Werder Bremen, Real Zaragoza and Boca Juniors regularly.
100M is what we're planning to spend this summer. Prade's 8 points... Ecco in sintesi gli obiettivi del Pradè-bis. 1) Costruire una squadra divertente, tecnica, capace di giocare un bel calcio con un mix fra giovani ed esperti -- entertaining squad 2) Puntare da subito al ritorno in Europa -- get back to playing in Europe asap 3) Ripartire da una squadra quasi completamente nuova come nel 2012 -- almost entirely new squad, as in 2012 4) Chiesa sarà al centro del progetto -- build around Chiesa 5) I nomi dei giocatori da comprare sono già tutti nel taccuino del direttore sportivo, basta aspettare -- Prade already has a list of who we're going after 6) Prima ci sono da vendere tutti i giocatori (e sono un quarantina) lasciati in eredità da Corvino -- First Is to sell the dozens of players we're planning to sell 7) Il budget a disposizione sarà di circa cento milioni metà dei quali provenienti dalle cessioni e gli altri messi a disposizione dalla nuova proprietà -- the 100m will come 50% from sales and 50% from ownership 8) Servirà molta pazienza perché ci vorranno i giocatori giusti per Montella, non per i titoli sui media o per soddisfare l’ansia dei tifosi, il mercato vero in entrata comincerà dopo il venti luglio -- patience is needed as the arrivals won't begin arriving until after 20 July
Sky is reporting that we have offered Sassuolo 10m plus bonuses for Lirola (right back) but they want more.
Lirola would be a nice get. I've been liking the majority of the names you've been linked to so far. Really, only Balotelli and Valero were hard passes for me.
9) Bring back Nintendo as shirt sponsors. Jokes aside, looks like they have a structured and well-planned strategy mapped out. "Entertaining squad" is a bit vague and subjective, but I'm guessing it means bringing in players who are technical and attacking-minded. Getting back to Europe quickly should be a natural ambition for a club of Fiorentina's stature. Referencing the summer of 2012 is promising, since that kickstarted our four consecutive top 5 spots. Keeping Chiesa would at the very least be a symbolic gesture that strengthens the new board's credibility as an ambitious side. Curious about Pradè's list, wouldn't be surprised if some of them are names that we haven't read about so far in Silly Season. Doubt he'd only look into Serie A players; there's a pretty big world out there! Selling before buying is a good idea, unless we lose out on particular targets due to being too slow. I like the 50/50 transfer policy, wouldn't want to be overly reliant on the owner's money. Accumulating ~50m for players that aren't key members of the team (you can count the number of them on one hand...) would really help improve the squad. First arrivals in 20 July or later shows that Pradè expects the selling phase to take around three weeks. Hope they take their time to get things right, and don't rush into things only to regret it afterwards.
Pietro Terracciano looks set to join Fiorentina on a permanent basis. We loaned him in 18/19 from Empoli as Lafont's back-up. Played 2 games last season. Means Viviano return is off. The question is who he will be back-up for this time? It seems that Drągowski could still leave; Bournemouth is appearantly interested. Who would we get if we sold Dragon? Perin? Two players who won't play for Fiorentina in the upcoming season are Rafik Zekhnini & Vincent Laurini. Zekhnini is going back to Twente on loan (this time, in Eredivisie, since they were promoted), while Laurini will join Parma. Centre-back Vitor Hugo could also leave, think we have too many non-EU players at this point? Spanish team Legánes wants him. In midfield, looks like neither Bennacer (chosen Milan) nor De Rossi (considering retirement) will play for us. I guess that leaves Badelj as the most realistic name that's been brought up so far.
I wish we'd make at least one new signing (not including Terracciano), it's almost August. The Lirola negotiation with Sassuolo has dragged on for an eternity, and I'm still not sure which of the rumoured players are actual targets.
Not the biggest fan of KPB, especially at his current age, but he comes at a very low fee (€1M) and has tons of experience. Versatile too. I'm not sure I'd want him as an indisputable starter, so we'll just have to wait and see which other players come in. Note: This is the 11th club of his career, so I don't expect him to develop any special affection for Fiorentina, but I hope he does his best to help us reach our goals.
Looks like former captain Badelj will return after one season in Lazio. Would be an impopular signing among many Viola fans, but he's easily better than every single midfielder in our existing squad. Just wish we'd move on to something else. Right now, the midfield names circulating are Valentin Rongier, Diego Demme & maybe Sander Berge. If we sign Demme, he'd be the second German in the team after Pezzella.
Badelj was my favorite player when he was with us. Not really thrilled about bringing him back, though. And yeah, he'd be our best midfielder, but he'd also be about our only midfielder.