Friday Poll: How embarrassing is this whole Gerson thing?

New Fiorentina signing Gerson got himself in a bit of hot water pretty much immediately by leaving Florence for Rome without the club’s permission. There were rumors—that remain unsubstantiated—that the Brazilian was upset over the TAS ruling that bumped Fiorentina back out of the Europa League in favor of FFP flouters AC Milan, prompting him to return to parent club AS Roma and request a different loan move.

Not surprisingly, that rumor raised a lot of tifosi hackles. Already unpopular due to his rather unimpressive debut season in Rome (except for his brace against the Viola) and rather underwhelming clubs Fiorentina beat out for his services (Empoli may have been the best of the bunch), that sort of insulting behavior would be pretty much a death knell for the player in Florence.

However, Gerson addressed his unexpected absence in his introductory press conference. He apologized for his sudden absence, explaining that he’d had to deal with a family matter (believed to be an ailing father) and hadn’t told club brass in his hurry to check in with his loved ones. He went on to praise Fiorentina as a great club and address his best position (whether as a winger or a midfielder) by saying that he was best wherever the manager thinks he should play. It was a mature display from the 21-year-old.

We don’t know why he returned to Rome, but it’s not a great look for Fiorentina that they haven’t issued a statement supporting him yet. Even if it was because he wanted out, it’s in the club’s best interests to keep that under wraps and say something like, “Yeah, we talked to him about it and he was very sorry and now he knows to check with us first. All done.” By letting the speculation rage on, they’ve made it harder for him to settle in and made themselves look like the kind of club a Gerson-caliber player might want to ditch before he’s even played.

Fortunately, this is Fiorentina we’re talking about here, so this doesn’t rank even close to the top of embarrassing stories over the past few years. So let’s kick off the weekend by remembering some of those episodes.