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Since the death of Davide Astori, midfielder Milan Badelj has served as Fiorentina‘s captain. However, the Croatian injured his knee in an international friendly against Mexico on Tuesday and is expected to miss up to a month. While the hole this leaves in the Viola midfield is pretty obvious, there’s also a huge void in leadership: Badelj is also the longest-tenured player in the senior team, having arrived in 2014.
We’ve heard rumors that Stefano Pioli has chosen Germán Pezzella as the captain, which makes a certain amount of sense—at 26, he’s one of the more senior players in the team and is a fringe international with Argentina—but he’s also only been in Florence since this summer and is a loanee from Real Betis and could depart again come June.
Then again, there aren’t a lot of other options. Federico Chiesa has been in the first team for longer than anyone else, but he’s still just 20. Jordan Veretout and Cristiano Biraghi are first year players too. Riccardo Saponara hasn’t played much this year. Marco Sportiello is the goalie, and a lot of managers like captains who are outfield players. Cyril Théréau has seniority, but c’mon, he’s Cyril Théréau.
Poll
Who would you pick as captain against Crotone?
This poll is closed
-
47%
Pezzella
(40 votes) -
23%
Chiesa
(20 votes) -
17%
Sportiello
(15 votes) -
4%
Biraghi
(4 votes) -
7%
Saponara
(6 votes)