Pradè’s difficulties and Burdisso’s about-face, Italiano’s doubts and the offers that are not the ones hoped for: Fiorentina waiting for Commisso to find out his future. What if there was a twist?

Fiorentina’s season is almost a carbon copy of the past one. Like a year ago, Vincenzo Italiano’s team is eighth in the standings after 33 games, albeit with four points more. Like a year ago, they are in the semi-finals of the Conference League and are favorites to access a final which this year too, most likely, will be against an English team. In the Italian Cup, however, they stopped in the semi-final: after the victory in Florence, they paid the price of finding themselves with ten men in Bergamo for over 40 minutes against Atalanta, the best team at the moment.
More detail, less detail, nothing too different compared to Fiorentina 2022/23. There is still room to end the season with a trophy, but there certainly won’t be two finals.

Burdisso has other aims, Pradè is a (too) lonely man in command
Regardless of how this Fiorentina season ends, it will also be remembered for the tragic death of Joe Barone. The Italian-American manager, an emanation from Florence of the owner Rocco Commisso, was the one who had the entire project in his hands, who knew all its facets. The only one who could address the founder of Mediacom on a first-name basis, even contradicting him if he deemed it necessary. For better or for worse an irreplaceable figure in the newborn Viola Park and in fact, not surprisingly, he has not been replaced.
In the days following Barone’s death, Rocco Commisso divided the tasks between those who were already there: on the one hand Alessandro Ferrari, former communications manager and now general manager, on the other Daniele Pradè, sporting director who until a few weeks ago was part of a mechanism while now, in fact, he is the only face of Fiorentina in the negotiations.
For Pradè it’s not great news: Burdisso, who he himself had saved at the end of last season (blowing up those who managed the scouting sector), has already started to propose himself around for some time, especially in Rome where his former teammate works. Daniele De Rossi team. For a few weeks now he has expressed his desire to say goodbye at the end of the season and has left a sporting director even more alone at the helm of a Ministry without a portfolio.

Italiano broke away in time, Pradè can only stall
A few weeks before his tragic and sudden death, Vincenzo Italiano had communicated to Joe Barone his desire to end his adventure at the helm of Fiorentina at the end of this season. The situation has not changed today and it was precisely from that communication that the search for a new coach began. It’s not easy, especially because today Pradè mainly has the task of stalling, of postponing the most important decisions while awaiting the return of the big boss: for this reason Alberto Gilardino risks soon disappearing and for the same reason Alberto Aquilani is today the option more likely. Former Primavera coach, Aquilani now leads Pisa and unlike the other candidates he would not ask for who knows what guarantees for such an important leap forward. And then he’s in no hurry, he still has important games to play against Pisa. For the Roman coach it would be a great opportunity, for the Fiorentina fans not a great prospect.

Committed soon to Italy
Only Fiorentina’s number one can change this scenario. After manita at Sassuolo Rocco Commisso told the team that he could return for the first leg of the Conference League semi-final: at most, he will be in Italy for the second leg. In the following days Commisso will inform managers, employees and players in which direction Fiorentina will sail. He will have to indicate the perspective and dictate the strategy during the purchasing campaign, he will have to decide how to help Pradè and, above all, make a decision on the future technical guidance.

For Napoli it is not a first choice, for Bologna it is an idea, for Turin it is an option. What if Italiano stayed in Florence?
In recent weeks, Italiano has not received the offers he hoped to receive. Roma confirmed Daniele De Rossi, Lazio took Tudor to build a project for us, Milan evaluates foreign coaches, Juve went straight for Thiago Motta after the first disagreements with Allegri and Napoli soon downgraded him to second choice. Italian today is Bologna’s idea to replace Thiago Motta and is one of the main names for the post-Juric team in Turin: good possibilities, not what he expected.
Starting from these assumptions, the confrontation between Rocco Commisso and Vincenzo Italiano will take place in the next few days. The Fiorentina president will test the waters one last time to understand if there are margins to retain him. His permanence would presuppose the renewal (even if qualification for the Europa League would already trigger a one-year contract) and an important re-foundation of the squad, but today Italiano’s permanence is an option not to be 100% discarded after weeks in which the two parties – overwhelmed by much more important events – have no longer taken this possibility into consideration.