Fiorentina’s attack could look very different in January

Transfer rumors and positional shifts mean the Viola tridente could be entering a state of flux.

With the World Cup in the rearview mirror and the end of the winter holiday rapidly approaching, it’s finally time to gear back up for Serie A. For Fiorentina, that’s meant, more than anything, trying to figure out what the roster’s going to look like in January. We’ve heard all kinds of rumors, primarily about Sofyan Amrabat moving on, but the area that’s most interesting right now is farther forward. What’s going on with the front three?

Vincenzo Italiano has worked wonders so far, keeping Fiorentina competitive despite missing his two best wingers—Nicolás González and Riccardo Sottil—for long swathes of the season; indeed, neither is expected to be ready for the clash with Monza on 4 January 2023. Instead, Cousin Vinnie has turned Christian Kouamé and Jonathan Ikoné into veritable stars and gotten the most out of Riccardo Saponara as well, keeping the attack afloat despite underwhelming performances from strikers Arthur Cabral and Luka Jović.

I’m going to take a hard left turn here and talk about transfer rumors for a moment. We’ve moved past that weird moment where everyone thought that Daniele Pradè was going to buy another number 10 despite the sparkling form of Giacomo Bonaventura and Antonín Barák, as well as the impending return of Gaetano Castrovilli. The past week, however, has seen the narrative shift to insisting that the Viola are looking at more wingers.

On the surface, this feels just as pointless as adding more attacking midfielders. This already-bloated roster has 5 wingers for 2 spots: González, Sottil, Kouamé, Ikoné, and Saponara. Moreover, there are massive holes in other areas of the pitch. Why would Fiorentina want to spend on more wide attackers?