OFFICIAL: Gilberto loaned to Vasco da Gama

We’ve maybe mentioned here once or twice that Fiorentina madly, deeply, truly need a rightback. Nenad Tomovic isn’t Serie A material as a fullback and Carlos Salcedo, despite looking like a heck of a prospect at centerback, looks lost out wide. Youngsters Kevin Diks and Lorenzo Venuti both need maybe another year of seasoning before they’re ready. “But wait,” you say, “What about Gilberto?” Well, that one hasn’t quite panned out either.

He missed a big chunk of the season with Serie B outfit Latina, but has been been a regular starter on both wide right positions in manager Vincenzo Vivarini’s 3-4-3. His energy and willingness to track back make him a useful asset in those roles. His occasional petulance about not being selected and his lack of defensive nous see him regularly booked and often rather lost. Still, though, he’s got pace and technique, which means he could be an adequate option at the Viola’s weakest spot at some point.

So now, after a rather wasted year and a half in Italy, he’ll make his way back across the Atlantic. He’s previously impressed in Brazil and is very well suited to the somewhat slower style of play there. Still only 23, Gilberto could end up being a good player, but with the aforementioned Diks, Venuti, and the newly-acquire Giuseppe Scalera, Fiorentina already looks pretty well set in the promising young rightback category, and Corvino’s propensity for ditching the protégés of his predecessor hints that Gilberto isn’t long for Florence.