Astori dreaming of bringing home Florence's third Scudetto

In a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, defender Davide Astori revealed that he's not shying away of a title challenge and even laughed off those silly silly rumours about our beloved Federico Bernardeschi and some Spanish team called Barcelona (I have no idea who they are either.)

Astori, along with the rest of the squad, has enjoyed a fantastic start to this year's campaign and has subsequently seen the team fly up the table and even hold on to first spot for a couple of weeks, a position which the 28-year-old believes can be re-captured before the end of the season.

"We deserve to be where we currently sit in the league," Astori told reporter Giovanni Sardelli. "Now we have to take the final step towards becoming a great team.

"To take this step forward we have to realise that all competitions are equally important, and give our all in every one, battling every side in the same manner.

"Sure, there are four or five teams that are stronger than us, but we can still beat them.

"I don't believe that the Scudetto is taboo either. Talking about it doesn't bring bad luck and we shouldn't be afraid to think about it.

After such a strong start, it's only natural that some of the viola's talents have achieved recognition across the continents, with Bernardeschi among one of the many to have been monitored by Europe's elite.

"Bernardeschi is definitely good enough to play for Barca," He continued, before jokingly adding "We even told him the other day to say hello to [Lionel] Messi for us!

"He has got a lot of talent and his head is in the right place. He can make history here at Fiorentina and I hope he will stay for a long time.

On the topic of transfers, Astori's proposed move to Napoli in the summer (rather thankfully) broke down, over which he holds no regrets.

"The move to Napoli was one of many deals that failed. I have no regrets though, as I'm perfectly happy here.

When told that he could have been playing with Gonzalo Higuain, he simply scoffed and pointed out dear Nikola Kalinic.

"I'm playing with Kalinic instead of Higuain, so it looks like things worked out just fine for me. He joined the right team at the right time. He is a great player."

So there you have it, nice guy huh?