Tatiana Bonetti leaving Fiorentina for Atletico Madrid

Disappointing but not altogether surprising news this morning, as Tatiana Bonetti’s request to leave Fiorentina has been accepted by the club. She will now make her way to Atletico Madrid for her medical and the rest of the formalities.

Back in October Tatiana looked to be on her way to the Spanish club, but in the end the player remained, perhaps convinced by the Fiorentina owners. They may also have spoken to Atletico and come to an agreement not to take the player at the time.

It was probably inevitable that the player would eventually make the move, although we may have expected that to happen at the end of the season rather than in the middle. The club is still in the Champions League, the Coppa Italia and battling to get back in contention for a place in Europe next season.

Instead, the club now loses one of it’s star players just as the team seemed to be turning a corner. This is of course always going to be a problem for Serie A clubs as long as their players cannot be full professionals and make the type of money, along with the other benefits, available in other leagues.

Tatiana joined Fiorentina from Verona for the 2016/17 season, and her 21 goals went a long way to helping the club claim their first ever Serie A title. She had already won the Scudetto with Verona two seasons before her move. Fiorentina in fact won the double in that first season for Bonetti at the club, adding the Coppa Italia to their league success.

She will now link up with another former Fiorentina hero, Alia Guagni, another member of that historic league winning team. Guagni made the move to Madrid last year. She wasn’t the first Fiorentina player to make that jump, as Elena Linari had transferred to Atletico back in 2018. After a short spell in France with Bordeaux, Linari is now on her way back to Serie A, having just joined AS Roma.

Bonetti has been a consistent performer and goalscorer in all her time at the club. While not managing to win another league title, they did add another Coppa Italia the following season, with Tatiana on the scoresheet in the 3-1 win over Brescia. The club has also continued to qualify for the Champions League, again Bonetti’s goals taking us to the top positions in the league.

Last season she was again the club’s top scorer, her 12 goals in 15 games, when the league campaign ended early due to the Covid situation, took Fiorentina to second place, and another Champions League qualification.

While Daniela Sabatino has taken over the goal-scoring this season, Bonetti has still been an important figure in the team. Along with her 2 Serie A goals, she has also provided 4 assists, and scored another 2 goals in the Coppa Italia campaign.

Whatever the reasons for her departure, we can only wish Tatiana well in her new adventure, and hope that she continues to find success and happiness in the next chapter of her career. In bocca al lupo Tatiana Bonetti