Fiorentina’s transfers this summer were a failure

What’s going wrong with Fiorentina?

A tally of 9 points in 17 games is a damning statistic for a club which had ambitions of challenging for Champions League qualification this season. Fiorentina’s 1-0 loss at Parma last weekend left them bottom of the Serie A standings, five points away from safety. And one of the biggest reasons behind their wretched form has been their ineffective summer transfer window.

Pioli’s homecoming quickly unravels

On paper, Fiorentina appeared to enjoy a productive summer. The return of Stefano Pioli as head coach seemed to be a sensible move, but things have not gone to plan. The club’s recruitment during the transfer window also looked positive, yet the results on the pitch since the start of the campagin paint a disturbing picture. Fiorentina’s incomings were headlined by forward Roberto Piccoli, who has scored just one goal in ten league appearances for the club. They also shelled out several other sizeable fees for other players.

The early part of the Serie A campaign highlighted that the summer transfer business was not all it was cracked up to be. Draws with Cagliari, Torino and Pisa – three teams they were expected to defeat – immediately put Fiorentina on the back foot. A dismal home defeat against Lecce cemented the club’s worst-ever start to a Serie A season and marked the end of Pioli’s second stint in charge.

Pioli’s inability to successfully integrate new signings into a squad which finished sixth last season ultimately proved to be his downfall. Piccoli has been unable to justify his fee since joining the club, while Jacopo Fazzini has failed to reproduce the form he showed at Empoli.

With the rest of their new signings also struggling to shine, the onus was on the existing group of players to replicate what they showed last season. However, only David De Gea and Niccolo Fortini can justifiably be pleased with their efforts during a thoroughly underwhelming start to the season.

Vanoli faces a tough task

One of the biggest issues facing Fiorentina is they are not set up to battle against relegation. In simple terms, this squad should be challenging for European qualification. The decision to appoint Paolo Vanoli as Pioli’s replacement has divided opinion, particularly given that he has no track record of success in Serie A.

He guided Venezia to promotion from Serie B in 2023/24, before signing a two-year contract with Torino. He was sacked after they finished 11th last term. While Vanoli has inherited a squad packed with talented players, you would be hard-pressed to wager on him guiding them away from the relegation zone. His hopes of success will rest on being able to get a tune out of a group of players who still seem shell-shocked by the exit of manager Raffaele Palladino last summer.

Vanoli was inundated with emotional messages from the players when his exit was announced, and Pioli was unable to build the same rapport with them. He desperately needs to get the players onside if he is to have any chance of keeping Fiorentina afloat at the end of the season. Vanoli’s comments after the draw with Juventus highlighted that he is fully aware of the size of the task he faces at the club.

“I asked the players to deliver a performance for our people,” he told DAZN. “It’s another point on the road to safety – our objective has changed and we need to stay concentrated on that. We started a bit fearful, and I expected that given the situation. We left Mari isolated against Vlahovic too many times and that’s something we must fix. We have strong forwards and we need to serve them properly, but that only happens if we build better from the back. It’s the beginning of a process, and now we need to keep our heads down.”

After kicking off his tenure with back-to-back draws vs. Genoa and Juventus, Vanoli’s side fell to three straight defeats to AEK Athens, Atalanta and Sassuolo before bouncing back with a 2-1 win vs. Dynamo Kyiv, but they would regress to consecutive defeats to Hellas Verona and Lausanne. A 5-1 thrashing of Udinese proved a slight reprieve, but their following loss to Parma saw them finish 2025 in the cellar of Serie A.

Lack of a tactical identity

Perhaps the only thing that’s more concerning than the results is the performances. Despite going from a number of managers like Palladino, Pioli, and now Vanoli, Fiorentina are displaying the same problems in terms of ball progression as well as pressing the opponent in midfield and the final third. This stems not just due to a lack of tactical understanding from the players, but a lack of understanding from sporting director Daniele Pradè about what players will fit the tactical system and lead them to success. Despite splurging €90 million on new players, it’s clear that this lack of coherent squad planning has forced La Viola to underachieve.

Looking at the squad, it’s not hard to see the issues with the Fiorentina squad. For one, they don’t have a single winger in the team, and apart from Albert Guðmundsson, they don’t have a single attacking midfielder (they have tried to rectify this with the January arrival of Manor Solomon). As a result of these creative voids, Fiorentina have been forced to go with a 3-5-2 formation – they simply don’t have the players to go with another system, making them far more predictable.

So far, this 3-5-2 formation has not failed to shore up their defensive record, but it’s also hindered them in the final third. Fiorentina consistently struggle to build possession in the final third, often relying on the pace and dynamism of Dodò and Moise Kean to create chances out of nothing, whilst the center backs have struggled to push forward and break the lines with incisive passing.

Issues in midfield

Moreover, La Viola have a plethora of central midfielders, but they don’t have a natural defensive midfielder like Sofyan Amrabat who can shield the defense, prompting attack-minded players like Nicolò Fagioli to be shoehorned out of position. 

Fiorentina’s multiple coaches have failed to find the right pairing in midfield, which has come at a cost of not only protecting the defense, but ensuring a smooth ball progression. This, in turn, has made it far more easier for the opponent to close down the defense and force them into attempting a long ball and giving away possession. It seems the players don’t have the confidence to work the ball out of pressure with a combination of quick passes – they’d much rather launch the ball forward with something resembling a clearance rather than a pass

Last season, Palladino had achieved a strong midfield balance with Yacine Adli, Danilo Cataldi and Edoardo Bove, none of whom are still at the club. Instead, Fiorentina have a far less creative spine, with the likes of Ndour, Sohm, Fazzini and Fagioli looking clumsy and lackadaisical on and off the ball. This is a fairly stale midfield core, one that is lacking in mobility, dynamism, and positional awareness, and it’s laid the foundations of a nightmare season.

Overreliance on Kean

Last season, Fiorentina’s top scorer was Moise Kean (19 goals), more than three times as much as the second-top scorer. As such, it’s only natural that Fiorentina have relied on Kean’s ability to hold up the ball, dominate his defenders, and generate his own goal-scoring chances. Oftentimes, Fiorentina have preferred to boot it through the air and find Kean rather than open up the defense with an intricate passing exchange.

Because of this, opposing defenses know that if they dedicate sufficient attention to stopping Kean, they’ll be able to thwart Fiorentina’s attack. Even when they might have the time and space to dribble forward or combine with a different player, Fiorentina are tempted to give it to Kean and allow him to be the hero. Unfortunately for him, he has unable to deliver last season’s numbers, with just four goals thus far.

By being overly simplistic and constantly unleashing Kean’s runs with long balls, Fiorentina have made themselves far more predictable and easier to defend against. Kean, meanwhile, has suffered a natural dip in form following last season’s heroics. This, combined with the constant pressure of the media and fanbase, as well as his apparent lack of confidence in front of goal, has made every single miss far more damaging.

Conclusion

Whether it’s being overly desperate and relying on crosses or long balls to Moise Kean, or struggling to recover the ball high up the pitch, or failing to clear the danger, Fiorentina are failing to get the job done across multiple different areas. As they look to turn the page on a rollercoaster 2025 and prepare for 2026, it seems evident that La Viola will be forced to splurge in the January window in order to give its squad a shot in the arm. It’s time for everyone from the coach to the sporting director to the players to step up and deliver the goods.

Zach Lowy is the chief editor at Breaking the Lines and has written for ESPN, the Guardian, the Times, FourFourTwo, FotMob, and the Independent, among others. Follow him on Twitter and Bluesky.