Born in Naples on 03/10/88, graduated in Philosophy and Politics from the Oriental University of Naples. He has been working for TMW since 2008 and was deputy editor for 10 years. Sent to follow the national team
Fifteen goals scored in the last three games, only victories in the month of October. These are the figures of a Fiorentina who are currently the best team in our championship. Since Raffaele Palladino created a suit for the team that was more suited to its characteristics and made the players more comfortable by avoiding constant one-on-one situations, the Viola began to fly. To excite. The Serie A standings after nine matchdays read fourth place, while the Conference League standings suggest that this year too the Giglia will be the protagonist team of the competition.
Since switching to a back four, Fiorentina seems to have few gaps. Above all, this season he has a squad as deep as ever in the recent past. Perhaps a little something could be useful in defence, but there is no doubt that in midfield – in the crucial area of the pitch – this team is equipped like few others in Serie A. It is a depth resulting from the work carried out in the summer, from a transfer market engineered by Daniele Pradè who with a deficit of around thirty million has built a group which in some respects resembles that of the first Montella. Even in that case, he was the Sports Director.
DANIELE PRADE’, ONLY CRITICISM SINCE HE RETURNED. BUT NOW THE WIND IS CHANGING
Pradè returned to Fiorentina in the summer of 2019, three years after his farewell. In between, his adventures at Sampdoria and Udinese did not increase his appeal, but neither did they ruin a memory that evoked sweet sensations in Florence for several seasons. In support of Montella, more than ten years ago he built one of the best teams of the Della Valle era and that work was only partially overshadowed by what happened in January 2016: his worst transfer market session, perhaps his greatest regret because at one Fiorentina at the top of the table who needed fuel to get to the bottom responded with Yohan Benalouane.
Pradè returned in 2019 with another ownership, taking the place of Pantaleo Corvino. He was called back to Florence by Rocco Commisso to assist and instruct Joe Barone. Vincenzo Montella was already on the bench, but compared to a few years earlier, another story emerged. No fourth places one after the other. On the contrary. The first two years of Pradè-bis were a real ordeal: constantly searching for the right coach, he didn’t get his signings right and perpetually took refuge behind the stopgap solution that made Fiorentina sink to the point of survival.
The new beginning was a nightmare, the restart more tiring than expected. So tiring that after two years the Roman manager’s second purple adventure already seemed to be in the headlines: because the contract was expiring, because other directors were regularly contacted. In the end, however, Pradè remained. He resisted. And he repaid the trust of the owners by focusing on Vincenzo Italiano.
With the coach from Karlsruhe, Fiorentina returned to their relevant ranking areas and began to be a permanent protagonist of the nascent Conference League. A whole different air, a different story. Yet Pradè’s renewals remained annual, the exams continuous. Even with Italiano on the bench, the Roman manager’s work never fully convinced: once and again, he was accused of working on relationships rather than scouting. Lots of criticism, but never dismissal because Pradè was able to convince the owners at the end of each season that he was the right man to work with. Even at the cost of sacrificing other figures.
He succeeded for several years with Joe Barone, he did the same in Spring 2024 with Commisso, the big boss. When a sudden and serious illness took away the General Director last March, the President confirmed Pradè as head of the Viola transfer market. This time without other figures to take into account, Commisso demarcated a clear division of tasks which led Alessandro Ferrari to manage all the other sectors of the club.
KEAN, ADLI, CATALDI, BOVE: A ROSTER REINFORCED WITH THE EXCESS OF THE BIG…
Without the Baron at his side anymore, without the manager who for years protected him from heavy criticism and drastic decisions, Pradè began the summer of 2024 with the awareness of having to build a new Fiorentina. Complicated job, also because Vincenzo Italiano, after three years and as many finals reached and then lost, had decided to leave.
As with Italiano, the Viola’s Sporting Director three years later focused on another young, ambitious coach with clear ideas: Raffaele Palladino. The choice is proving to be correct, but last summer there was above all a need to fix a team that had shown gaps almost everywhere.
The work is proving to be excellent. Pradè spared no effort between June and August and with a total outlay of around thirty million euros between purchases and sales he built the best Fiorentina of the Commisso era. He was good at understanding which redundancies from the big names could suit Fiorentina and one after the other he convinced them that the Viola one was the right project to relaunch. First Moise Kean, then Danilo Cataldi, Edoardo Bove and Yacine Adli. All players who for one reason or another had to change teams and who today – together with the old guard, together with Gosens, Comuzzo and De Gea (another transfer masterpiece) – are building a Fiorentina which has important ambitions and credentials to raise the bar.
… AND YOU HAVE JUST GLIMPED THE STRONGEST FOOTBALLER
Among Palladino’s many merits is that of having relaunched a striker like Lucas Beltran, of having understood how to make him perform at his best. The Argentine showed excellent understanding with Moise Kean against Roma and this is an excellent sign for the immediate future. But we cannot forget who is in the pits due to injury today, Albert Gudmundsson who at full capacity will perhaps be the most important weapon available to the coach from Mugnano di Napoli. So far the Icelandic has only shown a glimpse of his qualities in Florence, with just over 200 minutes in Serie A with the purple shirt which were still enough to solve the big matches against Lazio and Milan. Not bad, first signs of a champion who has the shots of a great number 10. And that’s just the appetizer.