OFFICIAL: Fiorentina buys Carlos Sánchez

This is pretty much just a bookkeeping item, but it’s worth noting that Fiorentina finalized the purchase of Carlos Sánchez from Aston Villa a couple of days ago. The €3 million fee seems awfully low for a player who rather reinvented himself this season as one of Serie A’s better defenders, even if he is already 31 years old.

We didn’t expect too much out of la Roca when he arrived, given his reputation for physical strength and comically slow foot speed. He looked like a solid backup for Milan Badelj at the base of the midfield. During the fall, though, Paulo Sousa dropped him into the back line after Carlos Salcedo, Nenad Tomović, and Sebastian de Maio proved unable to hang. Sánchez responded with a string of assured performances as a centerback. He even managed to cope with pacy wingers (albeit not perfectly) as a makeshift fullback.

Perhaps we shouldn’t have been as surprised as we were; after all, he’s a very good footballer, as evidenced by the 74 caps he’s piled up for Colombia (good for 7th all-time for los Cafeteros). We also shouldn’t be shocked, then, that there are already rumors that the Viola could turn a profit on him by selling him off for more than double what they paid for him. Hopefully Corvino realizes how dumb that would be; la Roca is an affordable and rock-solid option in the center of the pitch and provides cover for the defense as well. He’s the sort of steady veteran every team needs, and it’s a pleasure to have him (and that marvelous hair) confirmed as a Viola player permanently.