Fiorentina nearing Simeone deal

It seems more and more likely that Nikola Kalinić is on his way out of Florence, so the club is going to need another striker, as Khouma Babacar doesn’t appear to have the management’s trust to the extent that he’ll be allowed to lead the line. We’d previously heard mention of Giovanni Simeone as the next man up, but we simply didn’t believe it. Now, though, it seems that Fiorentina have reached an agreement with Genoa for the forward that will go through as soon as Kalinić goes out the door.

While the Grifoni have insisted that they’ll sell their star for nothing less than €25 million, the fee involved is believed to be around €18 million, which is an absolute steal for a young and prolific hitman, especially in this summer of madness. He hasn’t agreed to terms yet per any of the reports we’ve heard, so there’s still time for this to go pear-shaped, but it’s definitely a good start.

The 22-year-old Argentine scored 13 goals in 36 appearances last season, but it’s his style of play that’s exciting. He’s as energetic and feisty as you’d expect the son of Diego Simeone to be, but he’s got a bit of Diego Costa in his game: he simply bulldozes defenders on his way towards goal. He’s very much an in-the-box player, but with the dynamism that Fiorentina possess in attack, that’s probably what Stefano Pioli wants. With a more talented supporting cast than he had in Genoa, Cholito should push for 20 goals when/if he arrives.

Hopefully, though, he doesn’t bring back this monstrosity.