Yeah, sure, Fiorentina are looking at another young goalie

Look, it’s not that Koen Casteels of Wolfsburg is a bad player. In fact, he’s really quite good. And yeah, we understand that a talented 24-year-old backup goalkeeper is usually going to attract some interest on the transfer market. But c’mon, just because Fiorentina are publicly interested in long-term target Marco Sportiello doesn’t mean they’re shaking every tree and hoping for a new goalie.

Again, Casteels is a fine custodian. With an imposing frame, he’s as good as you’d expect at claiming high balls into the box in traffic, and he’s got the reflexes to be an above-average shot stopper. He’s decent with his feet and likes to start attacks with a quick throw. He’s a bit slow off his line at times, but fearless when stepping out, and he makes very few mistakes.

His situation, though, is tricky. Stuck behind Diego Benaglio for Wolfsburg and Thibaut Courtois for Belgium, he’s had a tough time breaking through anywhere. His agent Didier Frenay has openly spoken about finding somewhere the Belgian can play, whether that’s back home with Genk or Anderlecht or elsewhere.

Tutto Mercato Web thinks that Fiorentina and Napoli are following him too, but the Viola, at least, are unlikely to pounce: with Ciprian Tatarusanu as the number one and youngsters Bartlomiej Dragowski, Giacomo Satalino, and Artem Makarov all working their way through the system, it just doesn’t make any sense, especially with Sportiello on the verge of signing as well.