What did Fiorentina Really Get in Giovanni Simeone?

The striker position is one of the most important ones on any football teams roster. If a team does not have someone to score goals, it is really difficult to win games. Because the position is so important many high profile players receive a lot of money to be a teams top striker. In recent memory, Fiorentina has been willing to invest in the position by transferring for high profile forwards like Mario Gomez, Giuseppe Rossi, Stevan Jovetic, Nikola Kalinic, and more recently Giovanni Simeone. These players are all a bit different, but Fiorentina sees the importance of the position.

The newest forward is not as established as the others were when they came to Florence. Giovanni Simeone is 22 years old and looking to take the next step as a potential future star in Serie A. As son of Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone, Giovanni has had some success in Italy. With Genoa, Simeone had 12 goals in 31 appearances. Those numbers do not jump out at you, but the young Argentinian has a great skill set.

Unfortunately, he is young and that is the most frustrating part. As a youthful player, Simeone has a tendency to not be as polished as Fiorentina fans are used to. As the clear first choice striker for Stefano Pioli, Giovanni has had some struggles in the front of the net. Most notably in the clubs most recent match-up against Udinese. Time and time again number 9 was in front of the goal and failed to score. As a fan it was a bit frustrating to watch. Luckily, Cyril Thereau had his best game in purple or Fiorentina might be in worse shape than they currently are.

Simeone needs to perform and probably will end up being the darling of the club one day, the problem it may take some time. Fiorentina has not addressed the striker position with another star and will heavily rely on the young Argentinian and veteran Khouma Babacar. Although it is nice to see Pioli trust a young player that deserves a shot (maybe give Hagi a shot too...), Babacar may need to get more opportunities while Simeone figures out how to consistently hit the back of the net. Two goals in eight appearances is not what Fiorentina spent 15 million euros on. This is not a call to bench the future star, but maybe he can use an opportunity to clear his head and give Babacar a shot.