Report: Holy smokes, Fiorentina may sign Louis Munteanu tomorrow

We’re very used to seeing Fiorentina sign unknown teenagers from Eastern Europe. After all, that was pretty much all Pantaleo Corvino ever did. Daniele Pradè must have found the Crow’s old notebooks in a drawer somewhere, because Gianluca di Marzio reports that the Viola have brought 18-year-old striker Louis Munteanu in for a visit, and that he should sign for the team on Thursday.

Munteanu is a product of Gheorghe Hagi’s academy and spent this past year—his first as a professional—at Viitorul Constanța. He scored three goals for them last term, which doesn’t quite get the heart racing, but let’s keep in mind that a 17-year-old playing top flight football is a pretty big deal.

The three things that jump out about him are that he’s very, very fast; that he’s really good at using that pace to get in behind; and that he kicks the ball absurdly hard when he shoots. A regular for the national youth teams in Romania, he’s perhaps best known as one of Football Manager’s best unheralded finds.

He’s almost certainly going to head for the Primavera, where Alberto Aquilani will be tasked with shaping him into a complete striker. He needs to get stronger and better in the air and he needs to improve his link-up play, but he should immediately slot in for the youngsters. His competition comes in the form of Samuele Spallutto and Nino Kukovec, neither of whom impressed last year.

For those who pay very close attention to the rumors, Munteanu was reportedly approached by Fiorentina earlier in the year and shot down a proposed move. We have no idea what the terms are here, but we’d guess that the Viola will fork over something like €2.5 million for him. If he’s as good as Football Manager says he is (and when is FM ever wrong?), it could be an excellent deal. Expect to hear more about this one pretty soon.