Leganés interested in Vincent Laurini

Vincent Laurini was pretty much exactly as advertised for Fiorentina this past year. Coming as he did from Empoli as a 28-year-old, nobody expected him to blossom into a star. Rather, we hoped that he’d be able to cover a shift down the flank every couple of weeks, and that’s pretty much precisely what he did. However, as the Viola look to upgrade the righbtack spot, he’s an obvious candidate to move on.

Enter CD Leganés. Based in the suburbs of Madrid, los Pepineros (the Cucumber-growers, which is a simply magical nickname) finished in 17th place last year, although they were still a solid 14 points away from relegation. The team’s strength was its defense, which conceded just 51 goals, good for 10th in the league. However, the only rightback currently on the roster is Tito (no relation), which makes a backup one of their main priorities this summer.

Leganés are in a bit of a rush, as they fear that other teams will try to jump ahead of them for Laurini’s services, and are thus keen to get a deal done quickly. However, Fiorentina offered have set the price at €2 million, equal to what Fiorentina paid for him in loan fees and transfer fees from Empoli, and los Pepineros seem to feel that’s a bit high. With the departure of Bruno Gaspar, it would leave the Viola rather bare at rightback—Kevin Diks and Lorenzo Venuti are serious question marks and Nikola Milenković fits better in the middle—but the chance to recoup most of the cost on a journeyman who turns 30 next summer is enticing enough that Corvino may drop the price a bit.