Dusan Vlahovic’s high-profile move to Juventus from Fiorentina did not go well with the Curva Fiesole, as Florentine ultras labelled the Serbian marksman as a coward for choosing money over everything else and above all, moving to the Bianconeri, who have long been known to poach talented players off La Viola’s ranks.
However, it was not only Vlahovic who was targeted by the ultras. President Rocco Commisso and director Joe Barone were also the subject of threats by the Florence club’s supporters.
His transfer prompted Fiorentina ultras to release an open letter that read:
“So, it’s the usual, another small man without b*ll*, without honor and without respect who goes to a club with no identity or sense of belonging. Another ownership that after expressing its love for the Viola people, does what all their predecessors did: sell our best players to our historic rivals. We’re no longer surprised by anything and certainly won’t tear our hair out having lost yet another buffoon. We ask you president, what did they tell you to convince you to do such a thing? You, who told a child you would not sell any more players to Juventus. Congratulate Barone. He must’ve been convincing to tell you who knows what to talk you into an operation that, yes, brought in money but made you lose face in front of an entire city and beyond. How is it possible that you decided to do deals with the ultimate evil of that system that until the other day you fought against? We thought, with pride, that we’d left behind the dark period of sales for profit and deals with those who shall not be named, only to go straight back into it. A city that had totally embraced your battles and would’ve continued to embrace you in future, but now feels abandoned and betrayed. We aren’t prepared to watch our passion be trampled on, as your transfer market people don’t seem to represent your way of approaching this adventure with us. Our final message is for the squad, who are what really matter right now. You’ve proved that you have guts, we are with you. More battles await us and hopefully we’ll prompt some regrets for those who left in the night like a coward.”
In reply to the statement, Juventus ultras have now come forward with a bold move that takes the war of words right to Fiorentina’s famed Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Bianconeri supporters from the ‘Vikings’ ultras group, have unveiled a sarcastic banner in Florence, mocking Fiorentina for giving away players.
Damn so Juventus ultras placed a banner outside Fiorentina stadium:
“Pride and glory of Florence. But not even your players can remember that. The truth is you don’t count for anything”
Very unusual to see ultras groups do stuff like this “on enemy turf” pic.twitter.com/Gegd9Ia39P
— Siavoush Fallahi (@SiavoushF) January 30, 2022
It reads: “The pride and glory of Florence?!? Not even your players have any memory of it. The truth is, you don’t count for f*ck all!”
The young striker was targeted heavily by Premier League clubs Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle United in the final days. Nevertheless, all offers were rejected, in order to materialize a €75m transfer deal to seal a move to Turin – thus becoming La Vecchia Signora’s fifth highest ever transfer in history.
Vlahovic’s choice of moving to Juventus expectedly went downhill with La Viola ultras, who have now experienced several top players move in disappointing circumstances – from Federico Bernardeschi and Federico Chiesa in recent times to Giorgio Chiellini and Roberto Baggio from the days of old.