Reports: Fiorentina chasing Dodô

With Álvaro Odriozola confirming his return to Real Madrid, Lorenzo Venuti is the only natural right-back remaining on Fiorentina’s roster. That means yet another will have to be brought in this summer.

With two impending Conference League qualification matches in mid-August, Daniele Pradè will need to fill out the roster a little faster than usual this mercato. While there’s no rush to buy players in June, bringing in a right-back before Moena would allow maximum time for our new signing to settle in and adjust to Vincenzo Italiano’s scheme, which asks a lot from that position.

There are over half a dozen names rumored out there, like Zeki Çelik, Raoul Bellanova, Hector Bellerin, and so on. Over the last few days, however, a new favorite has emerged. Enter Domilson Cordeiro dos Santos, commonly referred to as “Dodô,” from Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine.

Who is Dodô? He’s a 23 year-old Brazilian, who first rose through the youth ranks of Coritiba in his home nation, debuting in 2016. Just 18 months later he was off to Donetsk for a fee of €2 million. He spent the 2018-19 season on loan in Portugal at Vitória de Guimarães, only appearing 12 times and scoring one goal.

His breakthrough at Shakhtar came in the 2020-21 campaign, where he played 34 times across all competitions, including every minute in Shakhtar’s Champions League group matches. He did the same this season, and his good performances have led to rumors of clubs such as Bayern Munich tracking him. Shakhtar’s sporting director even said a year ago that the club had rejected a €25 million bid from Bayern (probably with add-ons).

As a player, he’s similar to Odriozola in the sense that his priority is to get forward, all the time. He’s also used to passing out of the back and high pressing under De Zerbi. watching him against Inter in the Champions League last season his defense again Ivan Perisic was adequate.

Rumor has it Dodô is willing to join Fiorentina and would request a €1.5 million (net) yearly salary. Shakhtar, meanwhile, wants €15 million for a transfer fee. While I’d like to see a slim discount on that transfer fee, Dodô’s talent and potential resale value make him a great target for the Viola.