Gonzalo situation is hitting critical mass

Think back very hard about your favorite toy when you were a kid. Maybe it was your blocks. Maybe a plush animal. Whatever it was, fix it in your mind. Now imagine that your parents told you that you couldn’t have that toy anymore, and that they were going to give it to the neighbors.

That’s pretty much how we feel about the Gonzalo Rodriguez saga right now. The Fiorentina captain has been at loggerheads with management over his contract, which runs out at the end of the year. While it seems like re-signing the talismanic defender would be a no-brainer, Corvino and company have offered a real turd of a deal: a 2-year extension which includes a significant pay cut, from €850,000 to about €600,000.

While Gonzalo has lots of reasons to stay in Florence—his girlfriend and daughter, the armband, the fact that he’s resurrected his career here, what seems to be a genuine love for the city—it’s clear that management takes a dim view of a 32-year-old defender already showing signs of decline, and may be ready to let him walk.

Bad enough yet? Just wait. We knew that Gonzalo wanted to stay with Fiorentina for a year or two, then return to boyhood club San Lorenzo for a swan song. Common knowledge. Now, though, the centerback is in the sights of Inter Milan, and it’s not impossible to imagine him making the switch if he feels angry enough about the whole affair. And that, friends, would break our hearts.