Mario Suárez set to sign for Fiorentina

Fiorentina have signed Atlético Madrid player Mario Suárez, after the Spanish club confirmed the departure using Twitter. Following the sale of Stefan Savic to the Madrid club, the defensive midfielder will be heading in the opposite direction. Suárez has been a part of Diego Simeone's La Liga-winning side for the past five seasons, clocking over one hundred appearances in all competitions.

While Savic and his questionable mustache will be heading to Spain, the arrival of Suárez could well signal the start of the Paulo Sousa Revolution™. A rough, tough defensive midfielder -- possibly with a heart of gold! -- the new signing will act as a replacement for the outgoing central stalwarts such as Alberto Aquilani and David Pizarro. The added steel in the center of the park should help shore up a fairly threadbare midfield, allowing Borja Valero and Matías Fernández to fritter about further up the pitch.

Suárez seems to have been a well-liked member of the Atlético squad. While not playing as many minutes as he might have liked, his attitude towards big games made him an essential part of the side's historic 2013-14 season, winning La Liga and coming seconds away from winning a Champions League final. He's also scored penalties in European shoot-outs, and earned three caps for Spain -- no mean feat in possibly the most stacked international midfield of all time. We're unlikely to learn of the exact value of the transfer, being as it's all wrapped up in the Savic deal, but this seems like an exciting signing all the same.

Atlético Madrid have announced the player's departure on Twitter, mentioning that they will hold a press conference in the coming days to give Mario a proper send off. Suárez himself will be travelling to America to join up with the pre-season International Champions Cup festivities and has thanked the fans of his former club in a statement released online. Fiorentina's social media team seem to have sort of announced the arrival. While there seems to be no official statement on the club's site at this point, the Twitter account is happily posting videos of Suarez scoring goals at the training camp in North America.