All new Viola

All new Viola

ACF Fiorentina may have failed to sign Dimitar Berbatov, but there are reasons for quiet optimism this season.   In one of the quieter transfer periods of recent years, ACF Fiorentina bucked the trend by staging a major overhaul of the squad. Out went Riccardo Montolivo (free transfer to AC

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Thu 13 Sep 2012 12:00 AM

ACF Fiorentina may have failed to sign Dimitar
Berbatov, but there are reasons for quiet optimism this season.

 

In one of the quieter transfer periods of recent
years, ACF Fiorentina bucked the trend by staging a major overhaul of the
squad. Out went Riccardo Montolivo (free transfer to AC Milan), Valon Behrami
(undisclosed fee to Napoli) and Matija Nastasi (12 million euro to Manchester
City). In came goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano (on loan from Palermo), David
Pizarro (free transfer from Roma) and Stefan Savic (undisclosed fee from
Manchester City), amongst many other transfers. Indeed, with Juan Manuel Vargas
on loan to Genoa, only the Viola captain Manuel Pasqual and vice-captain Stefan
Jovetic remain from the class of 2009.

 

One area of the team that ACF Fiorentina failed
to reinforce significantly was in attack. While the World Cup-winner Luca Toni
returned to Florence (free transfer from Al Nasr), it seems unlikely that the
35-year-old will be offered much game-time. The Viola thought they had tied up
a deal for Dimitar Berbatov, but the Bulgarian star instead joined the English
club Fulham on transfer deadline day, after failing to board his flight to
Florence. ‘We are happy he did not come to Fiorentina,’ read a club statement.
‘He did not deserve our city and our shirt and the values it represents.’ ACF
Fiorentina have asked Berbatov to repay them for the cost of his missed flight.

 

Nevertheless, the acquisition of a trio of
playmakers in Alberto Aquilani (undisclosed fee from Liverpool), Borja Valero
(7 million euro from Villareal) and Matías Fernández (fee rising to 4.5 million
euro from Sporting Lisbon) will add some much-needed creativity to the Viola
midfield. While Aquilani failed to adapt to English football during his time at
Liverpool FC, the quality of the Italian international’s passing and
footballing vision remain undisputed. With the expected arrival of Nemanja
Gudelj from NAC Breda in January, the Viola midfield can surely be considered
amongst the strongest in Serie A.

 

ACF Fiorentina’s first two games of the
2012-2013 season-a deserved 2-1 victory over Udinense at home, and a
hard-fought 2-1 away defeat to Napoli-have provided hope for the team under the
new head coach Vincenzo Montella. The 3-5-2 formation preferred by Montella
successfully exploits the versatility of the Fiorentina’s fullbacks Manuel
Pasqual and Juan Cuadrado. Nonetheless, the form and fitness of Stefan Jovetic,
who scored all three of his team’s goals in the first two games, will be
crucial if the team want to compete for a European place this season.

 

ACF Fiorentina have some important games in
September. They face Catania at 3pm on September 16 at Florence’s Stadio
Artemio Franchi, and then play away to Parma at 5pm on September 22. The team hosts Juventus in a mid-week fixture at 7:45pm on September 25.

 

 

[This article went to press on September 10, 2012 and was revised online on September 18, 2012 to reflect a changes in the Fiorentina game dates.]

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