Report: Erick Pulgar sold to Fiorentina

Amidst the constant rumors of Diego Demme, Sander Berge, and Sandro Tonali coming in to reinforce the Viola midfield, another name has come out of nowhere to overtake all of them: Bologna’s Erick Pulgar. Gianluca di Marzio reports that Fiorentina has allegedly paid €10 million for the transfer of the 25-year-old Chilean international, who arrived in Italy in 2015 from CD Universidad Católica for an undisclosed fee (reportedly around €2 million).

A defensive midfielder, Pulgar has the flexibility to move back into central defense, which is an incredibly desirable quality for us (considering we have two fullbacks who like to get forward). He’s a talented player, and by most accounts, this deal seems to be a steal; he’s already been linked to AS Roma, Sevilla, and West Ham this window—three teams that tend to spend a lot more money on transfers than we do. While he runs cheaper than the other midfielders we’ve been linked to, this is probably more indicative of a good piece of business by Daniele Pradè than a means of cutting costs wherever possible.

Along with the return of Milan Badelj, the Fiorentina midfield seems to be shaping back up to a position of familiar strength. Ideally, we’ll have another signing come in to solidify the middle of the pitch, but it’s anyone’s guess who that might be (come home, Borja). Additionally, this transfer tells us that much of Daniele Pradè’s work is happening behind-the-scenes, so we may very well be in for a few surprises before the 2019 summer transfer window comes to a close.

Although there’s been no news yet regarding personal terms with Pulgar, we don’t expect much of an issue on that front. If this news proves true (which we fully expect it to), be ready to welcome Erick Pulgar to the Franchi for our upcoming campaign in Serie A—we think he’ll look quite good in purple.