Latest news with #RaffaelePalladino
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Fiorentina agree deal to sign Barcelona defender
Fiorentina have reached an agreement with Barcelona to sign 18-year-old centre-back Eman Kospo. Fiorentina are on the verge of welcoming their second defensive reinforcement this summer as the Tuscans have reached an agreement with Barcelona to sign Kospo. Advertisement Fiorentina agree deal to sign Kospo from Barcelona FLORENCE, ITALY – MAY 8: Robin Gosens of ACF Fiorentina celebrates after scoring a goal during the UEFA Conference League 2024/25 Semi Final First Leg match between ACF Fiorentina and Real Betis Balompie at Artemio Franchi on May 8, 2025 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by) Sources with direct knowledge of the matter tell me that the agreement between the two clubs is done and sealed and includes a sell-on clause in favour of Barcelona. Fiorentina have been following the 18-year-old centre-back for several months and are now completing the required documents to finalise the deal. Fiorentina begin new era Official: Pioli appointed Fiorentina head coach Kospo made 12 appearances with the Barcelona U19 team in the 2024-25 season, including three in the UEFA Youth League. Fiorentina have already signed Mattia Viti from Empoli in defence as well as central midfielder Jacopo Fazzini. The Tuscans are set to begin a new era, having terminated Raffaele Palladino's contract after just one season and replacing the Italian tactician with his compatriot Stefano Pioli.
France 24
12-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Pioli returns to Fiorentina after one season at Al-Nassr
The 59-year-old succeeds his compatriot Raffaele Palladino, who resigned to everyone's surprise in June, a few weeks after extending his contract until 2027. "Fiorentina announces that its new coach for its first team is Stefano Pioli," the club said in a statement. "Pioli, who returns to Florence after wearing the purple jersey as a player between 1989 and 1995 and having coached the club from 2017 to 2019, has signed a contract binding him to Fiorentina until June 30, 2028." Fiorentina finished sixth in Serie A last season which qualified them for the Conference League. Pioli left Al-Nassr, where Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo plays, at the beginning of the week after just one season in charge, having guided the club to third place in the Saudi League. His coaching career includes spells at Bologna, Inter Milan, Fiorentina and then five years at AC Milan with whom he won Serie A in 2021-22.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pioli returns to Fiorentina after one season at Al-Nassr
Stefano Pioli is returning to the Fiorentina dugout as coach (ATTA KENARE) Italian coach Stefano Pioli, who spent last season in charge of Saudi club Al-Nassr, is to return to Fiorentina, a club he previously coached and played for as a player, the Tuscan club announced on Saturday. The 59-year-old succeeds his compatriot Raffaele Palladino, who resigned to everyone's surprise in June, a few weeks after extending his contract until 2027. Advertisement "Fiorentina announces that its new coach for its first team is Stefano Pioli," the club said in a statement. "Pioli, who returns to Florence after wearing the purple jersey as a player between 1989 and 1995 and having coached the club from 2017 to 2019, has signed a contract binding him to Fiorentina until June 30, 2028." Fiorentina finished sixth in Serie A last season which qualified them for the Conference League. Pioli left Al-Nassr, where Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo plays, at the beginning of the week after just one season in charge, having guided the club to third place in the Saudi League. His coaching career includes spells at Bologna, Inter Milan, Fiorentina and then five years at AC Milan with whom he won Serie A in 2021-22. jr/chc/bsp/nr
New York Times
10-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Fiorentina sign Edin Dzeko from Fenerbahce
Edin Dzeko has signed for Serie A club Fiorentina from Fenerbahce on an initial one-year contract. Dzeko, 39, could see his deal extended into a second year 'if certain conditions are met,' the club said in a statement on Thursday, and will play in the Conference League next season following Fiorentina's sixth-place finish in 2024-25. Advertisement Fiorentina have yet to appoint a new head coach following the exit of Raffaele Palladino in May after a single season in charge. Dzeko returns to the Italian top-flight, where he had previously appeared in eight consecutive seasons between spells with Roma and Inter. Dzeko finished as the Super Lig's second top goalscorer in his debut season in Turkey after joining Fenerbahce in 2023, netting 21 times in 36 league games, four behind Galatasaray's Mauro Icardi. The Bosnian was named Fenerbahce's captain upon signing for the club, and started in all but three of his side's Super Lig matches under Jose Mourinho during the 2024-25 season, in which his side finished second behind Galatasaray. He recorded 21 goals and eight assists in 53 appearances during the recent campaign, but leaves Fenerbahce without a trophy in his two-year spell. Dzeko won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and the League Cup during a five-year stay at Manchester City between 2010 and 2015. The striker scored 72 goals and assisted 28 in 189 appearances for the English club under Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini, before leaving the club to join Roma, a year before Pep Guardiola's arrival at the Etihad. The forward spent six years in the Italian capital and finished as the Serie A's top goalscorer in the 2016-17 with 29 goals. He scored 119 times in 260 appearances for Roma, before signing for Inter in 2021, where he won two Coppas Italia and two Supercoppas Italiana. Dzeko also won a Bundesliga title with Wolfsburg in 2008-09, before finishing as the Bundesliga's top scorer the following campaign.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fiorentina star on Man Utd radar after 19-goal breakthrough season
Moise Kean, Manchester United and the Long Road from Misjudged Talent to Maturing Striker Kean's evolution in Florence reopens Premier League doors Football often holds an unforgiving memory. For Moise Kean, the image etched into the collective Premier League consciousness remains that winter afternoon at Old Trafford in 2019. Brought on by Duncan Ferguson as a second-half substitute, then swiftly taken off within 18 minutes. It was a damning symbol, a visual shorthand for potential misread and squandered. Photo IMAGO Advertisement Now, five years later, Manchester United are among the clubs monitoring the Fiorentina forward's progress. As reported in The Athletic, Kean has a €52 million release clause active until July 15. It marks an unlikely, even ironic return to the narrative, Old Trafford potentially becoming the stage for his resurgence. And the resurgence is no mirage. Kean's 2024-25 campaign under Raffaele Palladino in Serie A was not just productive, it was transformative. Structure and trust deliver Kean's best form Much of Kean's early club career was spent bouncing between systems, roles and leagues. Juventus gave him little rhythm. Everton even less. A short loan at PSG flashed promise, but consistency evaded him. Advertisement Florence changed that. Palladino placed trust in him as the focal point of Fiorentina's attack and allowed Kean to operate where he is most effective, centrally, on the shoulder of the last defender, rather than drifting wide or reacting to tactical emergency. Photo: IMAGO Palladino was emphatic. 'Both I and the club have faith in Moise, and that might seem banal, but it is fundamental for a player.' The clarity of that belief translated into 19 Serie A goals, second only to Mateo Retegui of Atalanta. Only one of those strikes came from outside the box, and even that was a gift, a backpass snaffled before a calm finish past Yann Sommer. But that, in a way, said everything about Kean's game now. Direct, instinctive, rarely wasteful. Advertisement His presence in the penalty area has grown. Six shots on target per 100 touches last season was the highest rate in Serie A. It placed him well ahead of Rasmus Hojlund (2.2) and Joshua Zirkzee (2.45), two forwards United have heavily invested in or considered. Photo IMAGO Where Hojlund struggled to convert limited service and Zirkzee offered fleeting moments of guile, Kean gave Fiorentina relentless movement. Tracking data showed 39 per cent of his runs were made in behind defensive lines. It's the hallmark of a forward thinking a fraction quicker than his marker. Style of play and tactical identity Kean's hat-trick against Verona encapsulated his evolution. A clever diagonal run for his first, a strong aerial finish for his second, then a slaloming solo effort from the left channel for his third. Advertisement He is now a forward who asks questions of defenders, rather than reacting to what's given. The variety in his finishes illustrates a striker no longer trying to do too much, but simply doing what matters. Photo IMAGO What might be more significant for Manchester United is what this reveals about Fiorentina's role in that improvement. It is not simply that Kean became more prolific, but that the team around him understood how to extract his strengths. Regular minutes, repetition, an understanding of his movement patterns. This is where coaching and recruitment philosophies either collide or coalesce. Advertisement For United's head coach Ruben Amorim, that poses an interesting question. Does Kean offer the kind of pressing, linking and multi-phase involvement his system demands? Or does the Italian provide something more direct, a kind of explosive Plan B when combinations fail? There is no clear answer. What is evident is that Kean is not the player many remember. He is not the brooding teenager trudging off at Old Trafford, nor the Everton enigma shadowed by systemic dysfunction. He is 25, a player with identity and purpose, who knows where to be in the box and how to finish. Photo IMAGO English memory and the risk of misjudgement Kean's Premier League past has unfairly clouded his potential. English football often preserves reductive versions of players. Iago Aspas is remembered for one misplaced corner, not for nine seasons of prolific returns at Celta Vigo. Advertisement That sort of memory trap risks repeating itself. Kean was a teenager in 2019. His substitution by Ferguson, as ignominious as it appeared, said more about managerial instinct than footballing ability. The broader narrative ignored context, growth and age. Now, he is emerging from the shadows, but in a different light. There is nuance to his game, and strength in his simplicity. He plays within his limits, not constrained by them. For United, there is intrigue. Not just in whether Kean fits their tactical needs, but in whether their cultural instincts can move past a single snapshot of perceived failure. Our View – EPL Index Analysis United fans will remember Moise Kean for those 18 miserable minutes. That moment at Old Trafford became one of those viral clips passed around every time a debate sparked about young talent not cutting it in England. So the idea of him returning, not just to the Premier League but potentially to United, feels oddly dissonant. Advertisement There's also the scepticism that comes with good numbers abroad. Nineteen goals in Serie A, yes, but is Serie A's pace and quality comparable? Will he adapt to the pressing intensity? Will he track back like Amorim wants his forwards to? Or is this another Memphis Depay scenario waiting to happen, all promise, minimal delivery? Even the reported fee gives cause for pause. £45 million is a considerable amount for a striker who has not yet delivered in English football. United have had their fingers burned enough times to hesitate. Wout Weghorst, Odion Ighalo, even Hojlund for now, all brought in to fill a No 9 void and all still leaving fans craving more. If Kean signs, he will need to hit the ground sprinting, not just running. Old memories will not fade easily. But if he can match the Serie A sharpness with Premier League application, he might just surprise supporters.
