Fiorentina are back in the hunt for a new coach as they parted ways with Gennaro Gattuso after 22 days. The club and the gaffer reportedly did not see eye-to-eye in the transfer market strategies. Moreover, the front office considered the role of his agent Jorge Mendes excessive according to multiple sources.
Fiorentina were trying to get off to a strong start in the summer window. They opened talks for Porto’s Sergio Oliveira and Jesus Corona and Valencia’s Gonçalo Guedes. However, despite pressure coming from the representative, they did not meet the asking prices.
In particular, the attempt for the midfielder caused a divide within the club. Directors Joe Barone and Daniele Pradè believed €12M would be enough thanks to the connection with Mendes. But the Dragões asked for €20M and refused to budge. Something similar happened in the other deals, Sky Sport and La Gazzetta dello Sport report. Plus, Fiorentina may miss out on Nicolas Gonzalez, who is close to Brighton, Calciomercato.com indicates.
Gattuso expected the club to be more ambitious and to invest. Instead, he got caught in the middle of the spat between the management and Mendes. He continued to support his agent, and the parties reached a breaking point.
Rudi Garcia and Claudio Ranieri are the early favorites to take over, Tuttomercatoweb reports. The official statement of Fiorentina reads: “The company immediately set to work to identify a technical choice that will guide the Viola team towards the results that Fiorentina and the City of Florence deserve.”