It’s time for yet another Fiorentina strikers update

Because we’re in the last few days of the winter mercato, business is booming across Serie A. Fiorentina are no exception, as the club is in the midst of several transactions which will solidify its attacking department moving forwards. Here are the three noteworthy new stories from today about the #9 situation.

1: Arthur Cabral is official

We’ve been waiting for days now, but Fiorentina finally made the singing of Arthur Cabral official from Basel early this morning.

Cabral arrives for a reported €14.5 million base plus €1.5 million in bonuses. From my own research as well as our interview with scout and Swiss football expert Oliver Zesiger, I feel that Cabral is as good an option as we could have hoped for the replace Dušan in January. Vincenzo Italiano shouldn’t have to rework his style to accommodate Cabral, who is a similar profile to Dušan tactically. If he can adapt to Serie A’s physicality, watch out.

2: Burdisso is negotiating for Agustin Alvarez this June

With Krystoph Piatek a short-term option, there’s an opening this summer for a new striker to backup Cabral moving forwards. In pole position right now is Agustin Alvarez, a 20-year-old striker from Penarol in Uruguay. Widely regarded as one of Uruguay’s top prospects, the Viola are rumored to be nearing an agreement on the transfer. It seems that a future resale clause is the only negotiating point.

Alvarez notably scored 10 goals in 14 Copa Sudamericana matches last season and has already scored 33 times in 70 appearances for the Carboneros. That’s a lot of experience for a 20-year-old, and we should be very excited if this goes through. This is exactly the type of signing I was hoping to see before the mercato ends, although a new center-back or midfielder would be nice too.

The last point I’ll make here is: thank you Nicolas Burdisso. He is reportedly in control of this operation, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence our incoming transfers have been so much better since his arrival this summer.

3: Kokorin might finally leave

It’s only been a year since Sasha Kokorin joined Fiorentina, but it feels like a lot longer than that. While Nicolo Schira is hit or miss, his recent report today that Fiorentina is attempting to rescind Kokorin’s contract is great news.

He’s easily the worst signing I’ve ever seen as a Viola fan. For those of you who’ve been fans for longer than I, I’d be curious how close Kokorin’s signing is to the worst you’ve seen.

He’s dead weight on the roster right now, so my only hope is that we can get rid of him permanently rather than having to worry about him being on the roster in Moena next year. Goodbye, Sasha, and good riddance.