Unai Emery is the latest in a long line of new managers linked to Fiorentina

Fresh off another coaching disasterclass, Nicolò Schira reports that Fiorentina have made contact with former Sevilla, PSG, and Arsenal boss Unai Emery. It doesn’t sound like anything’s definite, but it’s yet another nail in the coffin of Giuseppe Iachini’s stint as the Viola mister; there’s no way that the club would be linked to so many new coaches if there weren’t a pretty obvious desire to change things up in the technical area.

Emery’s picked up no shortage of flack for his rather catastrophic stay at the Emirates and his PSG’s historic capitulation against Barcelona in the Champions League, but it’s worth remembering what earned him those opportunities. His Sevilla teams were fantastic, winning the Europa League three times in a row, and he also impressed at Valencia before that. He’s clearly demonstrated that he can put a team together on mid-size budget, which makes him a good target for Fiorentina.

Stylistically, Emery would be a massive departure from Iachini. His teams have always tried to play out from the back (often to their detriment) and are generally quite good in possession. While the defensive fragility his outfits have exhibited isn’t especially encouraging, it’s hard to see him being worse than the management over the past two years at least.