OFFICIAL: Tatiana Bonetti signs 2-year extension

We’ve been a bit timorous about the fate of Fiorentina Women’s since the news of Alia Guagni’s rightful irritation about the game’s status in Italy broke out, but we’ve got a bit of deeply reassuring news to offset that. The club announced today that Tatiana Bonetti has signed a 2-year extension with the club, setting her up to be the focal point of Antonio Cincotta’s attack for the coming seasons. We are over the moon.

The 28-year-old forward usually plays as a striker but, with a genuinely wicked left foot, she’s equally comfortable cutting in from the right wing as well. Although she’s not particularly big (155 cm/5’1), she wreaks havoc in the box with her surprising leap and, more than that, her excellent understanding of space and timing. She’s maybe the most natural finisher on the team but, more than anything, she’s got more fantasia than any other player in the squad; more than anyone, she always seems like she can conjure a goal from nowhere, as evidenced by the team-leading 12 (joint-second in the league) she’s got this year.

With Ilaria Mauro joining Inter Milan next year (we’ve heard largely so she can be closer to family in the city), we should get a classic big-little striker pairing of Bonetti and Lana Clelland, whose aerial ability and holdup play should bring the best out of Bonetti. Hopefully, this will mean she’ll finally get the recognition she deserves from the Azzure: she’s only got 3 senior caps, although she was in the squad for this year’s Algarve Cup before it was canceled due to the coronavirus. Maybe Milena Bertolini is finally realizing what the rest of us have known for years: Tati’s really good.

After coming up at Riozzese, she earned a move to Tavagnacco in 2009 and then to Hellas Verona in 2014. 2 years and 45 goals later, she signed with the Viola, marking 21 goals in her first season and leading the team in scoring every year until the last one, when she moved to the wing to make room for Clelland and Mauro through the middle. With Clelland’s injury on Scotland duty, Bonetti returned to her natural spot this year and as excellent as you’d expect from someone with 55 goals in 4 years.

It’s a great move for the club to keep one of its top players in place through her prime, especially since she’s clutch as they come and seems to be very popular with her teammates. This is how you build for the future and ensure that, following a second-place finish this year, that you’re not setting yourself up for a letdown. For now, though, let’s sit back and thank our stars that we’ve got at least two more years of top shelf bangers.