Federico Chiesa has stated his desire to leave Fiorentina, with both Milan and Juventus having been linked with the Italian starlet.
One of Italy’s most exciting prospects is Chiesa. The 22-year-old has been a part of Fiorentina’s first-team for the past five seasons now but last time around, his 10 goals in 34 Serie A games has outed him as one of the nation’s most prosperous players.
It’s inevitably led to him being linked with a move away from Florence. Both Juventus and Milan have been linked with the striker in recent weeks, but neither party were willing to table a bid for the man who Fiorentina value in excess of 70M euros.
Club director Daniele Pradé said earlier this month that Chiesa is worth “something more” than the 70M euro mark, and further reiterated the point that Fiorentina are in no rush to sell the youngster this summer.
Now, just days after Chiesa’s goal in the 4-3 defeat at Inter, in what was Fiorentina’s second Serie A game of the season, club president Rocco Commisso is said to be “ready to sell” Chiesa but is waiting on approaches from either Milan or Juve.
La Gazzetta dello Sport understands that Chiesa hasn’t formally handed in a transfer request as such but rather he is “enquiring” about a move away, in order to better his career opportunities.
So, Milan or Juventus; which one might be the better fit for Chiesa?
The reigning Italian champions Juventus have had a busy summer. Starting with the sacking of Maurizio Sarri which saw club legend Andrea Pirlo almost immediately installed as the club’s new boss, overseeing several ins and outs and making public his search for a striker.
Edin Dzeko looked set to become their new no. 9 but for a transfer fiasco resulting in him staying at Roma, before last week announcing the loan signing of Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid following their capture of Luis Suarez – who was also linked with Juventus.
So their striker search might take a back seat and that could allow Inter to step in on the Chiesa deal.
Milan haven’t made all that much business in the transfer market this summer. The marquee arrival comes in the form of Sandro Tonali and Stefano Pioli could yet build on his “Milan revolution” with another Italian prodigy in Chiesa.
This could be a more appealing move for Chiesa than Juventus as well. Not only because first-team opportunities might be more available, but because he’d be playing and training alongside one of the continent’s best ever in Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
At 38-years-old he is still wowing fans. He could prove to be the man who really shapes Chiesa as a striker and the lure of him alone could see him choose Milan over Juventus in the coming weeks.
Fiorentina’s asking price is high though, and Commisso has hinted that he wants to sell, but looks set to remain stubborn over the price. It appears to be a case of first come, first serve in this particular deal.