Fiorentina: Tumbling Dice

River Gambler Daniele Prade is throwing the dice again on our fair city on the Arno and looks to be changing up the roster as the Winter transfer window starts to wind down to a close. One player has been loaned out, another has been purchased and a few others look poised to be brought in

Ruben Olivera

Ruben Olivera has been loaned, with the right of redemption to Genoa. Olivera, a 29 year old Uruguayan, returns to Genoa, where he served another loan spell in 2008–2009 as property of Juventus. In his previous spell at Genoa, he played in 20 matches and scored 4 goals. He played 13 matches for La Viola, scored no goals and had 2 red cards, including a three game suspension for what looked like an intentional stomp on an opposing player's leg. Beyond the bad behavior, he never really showed Fiorentina fans much and was generally held in disregard by the Tifosi.

Giuseppe Rossi

The first transfer of the winter market struck Firenze like a lightning bolt as Fiorentina announced the signing of Italian International Giuseppe Rossi from Villareal. Rossi, born in the exotic town of Teaneck, New Jersey, moved to Parma when he was 12 and joined the local Parma youth team.He was snatched up by Manchester United, but only got chances to play in 5 matches, being loaned out first to Newcastle(11 matches) and then Parma(19 matches.) In July of 2007, he was sold outright to Villareal, At Villareal he played in 136 matches and scored 54 goals. His breakout year was 2010-2011, where he scored 32 goals in 56 appearances in all competitions, In October of the anext season, however, he received An anterior cruciate ligament injury on his right knee that kept him out 6 months. he injured the same knee in April of 2012 and was out for another 10 months and isdue to be able to return to play in March.

Matias Vecino

Matias Vecino is a 21 year old Uruguayan attacking midfielder brought in from Nacional. He played 18 matches, scoring 4 goals. prior to that he played 32 matches for Central Espanol, scoring two goals. Vecino was announced prior to the Transfer window being opened, but it was originally announced he would not join the squad until summer, due to the necessity of getting an EU passport, but he has come to Florence already and is working out with the team. If he can get his passport prior to the end of the window, he will officially join the team, otherwise he will stay in Italy and practice with the squad and officially join in summer. Even if he joins the spring for the second half of the season, he's not likely to see a lot of playing time, given the strength of the Viola midfield currently.

Marcelo Larrondo

The next official player brought in this winter, is Marcelo Larrondo. Larrondo is a 24 year old striker from Argentina brought in from Siena. At Siena, he had 59 appearances and 8 goals. The bulk of his appearances where while Siena was in Serie B, and most of them he came off the bench, so his minutes were fairly limited. This season he has only played in three matches, as Siena has committed to older talent. Larrando will wear #18, which used to be worn by Riccardo Montolivo and has already joined the team and is training with the group. Given the lack of scoring pop in the lineup currently, it's entirely feasible that he could get some playing time, should he impress Vincenzo Montella in training.

Rafal Wolski

Not yet official, but Wolski is in Florence for his medicals and an announcement is considered imminent. Wolski is a 20 year old attacking midfielder from Poland and looks to be another move for the future.

Rumor Mill

As always at this time of year, a lot of rumors are flying around, most of them ludicrous in nature, some more likely than others and a few are very possible. I'll list a few of the more credible here.

Marvin Commper is an out of favor defender at 1899 Hoffenheim and rumors have him being close to being in Viola. He's 27 years old and stand over 6 foot tall and could shore up the defense, should some of the current squad move along. His current team and his agent are currently involved in a bit of drama, so the real status of the player remains to be seen.

Marcos Alonso Mendoza, a left defender/midfielder currently playing for Bolton, is being touted as a possible Pasqual backup or future replacement. Alonso is 22 years and is from Spain. he's also over 6 foot tall and has gotten into 15 matches for Bolton, scoring 3 goals.

There also may be some players moving on or going out on loan. Llama is being mentioned with Palermo and Parma. Inter have been mentioned as a possible destination for Mattia Cassani, and Viviano has been mentioned in conjunction with Bologna.

So, as we enter the last week of the window, we can expect a few more throws of the dice.