Fiorentina squad numbers assigned

Well, we were wondering about which shirt numbers would go where, and now we’ve got some answers. Not surprisingly, some are about what we’d have predicted, but there are a few outliers.

Goalkeepers

12—Ciprian Tătăruşanu: As expected, the Romanian number one opts to keep his beloved number, eschewing again the traditional 1.

24—Luca Lezzerini: The possible top backup also decided to keep his number from last year; previously, it was worn by Alessio Cerci and Mario Santana.

69—Bartłomiej Drągowski: The Polish teenager could have taken the 1 shirt to symbolize his stated intention of competing for the top spot. I guess he’s weirdly attached to 69. Maybe he’ll grow out of it.

Defenders

2—Gonzalo Rodríguez: Nobody doubted that the captain would retain his number. To suggest otherwise is blasphemy.

4—Nenad Tomović: He clearly likes this number, seeing as he switched to it from 40 as soon as Facundo Roncaglia left town. With the Serbian international possibly leaving, though, this one could open back up.

13—Davide Astori will retain his favorite number, although he has big shoes to fill. The last Viola player to wear 13 was the immortal Houssine Kharja.

15—Ricardo Bagadur is technically still in possession of this one, although he’s almost certain to leave on loan in the coming weeks.

17—Kevin Diks: The new guy wore 17 at Vitesse. Last time we saw someone in purple wearing 17, it was Joaquín.

28—Marcos Alonso: He must really like 28 for some reason, since 3 and 6 (both traditional numbers for a leftback) were both available. Marcos may be a weirdo.

Midfielders

3—Amidu Salifu: The Ghanaian took a number that’s not really associated with a midfielder, but you have to admire his pluck in trying to associate himself with the first eleven. However, he’s still probably going to play elsewhere this season, which should open 3 back up.

5—Milan Badelj: The Croatian has been angling for a move away through his loudmouthed agent, so this one could also end up being available soon.

8—Matías Vecino: As a non-stop midfield dynamo, this number suits him perfectly. Long may it grace his locker.

10—Federico Bernardeschi: Seems unlikely to play in the central position that 10 usually indicates, but his creativity and qualities make him a worthy bearer of this holiest of numbers.

11—Hernán Toledo: The Argentinean is a fast player who naturally keeps his width on the left, so this is a natural pairing. As an aside, this has been a pretty great number for the Viola in the past decade or so: Juan Cuadrado, Alberto Gilardino, Fabio Liverani, Christian Maggio, and Fabrizio Miccoli all wore it.

14—Matías Fernandez: We’re not going to see it on the field for awhile, as Mati’s still sidelined due to international duty, but it’s nice to see Cruyff’s number worn by a creative and technical player.

18—Ianis Hagi: The Hungarian 17 year old has a number that’s been a bit cursed since the departure of Riccardo Montolivo. Here’s hoping he breaks it.

20—Borja Valero: Duh.

98—Abdou Diakhate: Probably not for long, since he should move to somewhere in Serie B on loan pretty soon. Fun fact, though. This is the year Abdou was born. On New Year’s Eve. Feel old yet?

Forwards

7—Mauro Zarate: Usually associated with a right-sided player, but Mauro’s penchant for starting wide before cutting in means that, for the numerical traditionalist, it’s a better fit for him than it ever was for David Pizarro. But we still love you, Pek.

9—Nikola Kalinić: Not quite a classic number 9 in the sense that he’s more than just a target man, but any cagey penalty-box operator has a good claim to rent this one from his lordship Gabriel Batistuta. As long as he remembers it’s just a rental.

19—Jaime Báez: The 21 year old Uruguayan spent last year loaned to Livorno. With his pace, technique, work rate, and ability to play out wide or through the middle, he’s got a small chance of sticking in Florence this year.

22—Giuseppe Rossi: Fresh off a loan with Levante, Pepito has been the star of the preseason. He’s also liable to switch numbers to 49 or something equally nonsensical at any moment.

30—Khouma Babacar: Not a whole lot of other options for the Senegalese golden boy, so he’ll keep his number from last year. I really want him to stay long enough to inherit the number 9 and make it his, but that looks increasingly unlikely.

33—Mario Gómez: Technically, he’s still a Viola player, so I had to include him. Bah humbug.

72—Josip Iličić: I assume there’s a reason that Josip likes this one (he’s equally partial to 27, he says), but I think he’s probably just a weirdo.