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We’ve gotten a look at the top-selling jerseys thus far this year, and it’s not quite what you’d expect. After Nikola Kalinić, Federico Bernardeschi, and Borja Valero topped the list last season, we were always going to see some new names in there, but it’s not quite what we expected.
The number-one selling shirt thus far is Giovanni Simeone’s number 9. It’s quite the show of optimism for a player who’s just arrived and has scored 13 goals in 39 Serie A appearances. On the other hand, he’s got a lot of personality, has a fine pedigree, and c’mon, you have to be excited for a young Argentine striker who’s played at River Plate and arrived in Italy at the age of 21. There’s precedent.
The second top-seller is also a pretty obvious choice, because we all love Federico Chiesa and he has the look of a superstar on the verge of bursting into international repute. His Florentine connection via his dad Enrico (maybe you heard he also played for Fiorentina?) doesn’t hurt either.
The third-top seller, though, is where it starts getting weird. Cyril Théréau is a perfectly serviceable veteran with a respectable albeit undistinguished career, but he shouldn’t have the third-best selling jersey so far. What the heck are yall doing? At least bump Germán Pezzella, who’s number four on the list, up a spot to unseat the Frenchman.
Or if you have to go for a French player, maybe pick up Jordan Veretout’s 17; he already looks like the next excellent Viola midfielder. Or maybe you want the guy who’s probably the best player on the team (brain fart against Rodrigo Palacio and Bologna aside) in Davide Astori. Khouma Babacar, too, is long-serving, productive, and very attached to the city. But Théréau? Really? That’s just weird.
The quartieri alternate jerseys are selling well, too. The blue Santa Croce shirt has been the most popular, followed by the white of Santo Spirito, the green of San Giovanni, and finally the red of Santa Maria Novella. Since we haven’t ever seen a blue Fiorentina shirt, it seems safe to assume that the novelty of a collectable is driving the sales. White is the traditional away color, so it makes sense to see a fair number of those move as well. The green strip is perhaps hindered by Marco Sportiello’s choice of the color for his kit; people always seem hesitant to go for a goalkeeper uni. The red was available last year, so maybe fans are bored with it.