Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso claims Juventus ‘stole’ Federico Chiesa from them because ‘clubs like Juve, Barcelona and Inter are indebted through dirty work.’
The Italian-American businessman made the comments during an event at his parents’ hometown of Marina di Gioiosa Jonica, where he received the keys of the city.
“How did Juve sign Chiesa? They ‘stole’ him because they gave him a lot more money,” commented Commisso on Radio Bruno.
“There is the difference between us and Juve, the more revenue you have, the more money you can spend. They are the Scudetto favourites every time because they have a €300m wage bill and ours is €70m. Money counts.
“There are clubs like Juventus, Barcelona and Inter who are indebted through ‘dirty work’.”
The Chiesa transfer was very similar to the one Juventus just finalised with Sassuolo for Manuel Locatelli.
The winger joined on a two-year loan with obligation to buy in 2022 for €40m, but unlike Locatelli, Juventus did commit to pay Fiorentina €10m for the loan.
Locatelli’s transfer raised eyebrows, as Sassuolo allowed the two-season loan for free.
Both moves were similar in that the players steadfastly refused to even consider any other club.
Meanwhile, Commisso again reiterated that Tottenham, Manchester City and Atletico Madrid target Dusan Vlahovic ought to extend his contract with Fiorentina.
Nikola Milenkovic signed an extension to 2023 today, while German Pezzella flew to Seville for his Real Betis medical.
All due respect: but “Stealing” means they didn’t pay anything … they didn’t steal anything, they leveraged their financial might and clout but be clear, they stole nothing : the checks didn’t bounce, Juve stole nothing. It reflects badly on Commisso because he’s not saying outwardly that they simply don’t have the money to compete like Juve – but that in no way, is tantamount to Juve stealing anything. It’s more sour grapes on Commisso’s part – who, quite likely, in his business life wasn’t in the same position as the ‘poor’ kid in the game.
Best regards, a Juve fan
@Hipster. I more or less agree with you. Because by this logic Fiorentina “stole” Nico Gonzalez from Stuttgart. I want to think that what he really means is that clubs like Juventus are allowed get into debts of 500mm euro and still make all kinds of purchases. The essential two year deferment of Locatelli’s fee means that Juventus get to put off this expense. Basically once they have Ronaldo off the books in year, plus another year in which to further balance (or make another signing). I get his frustration.
paying 60 mill for Chiesa is your idea of stealing ? they you are the thief because you pocketed that money without reinvesting into the team,
Hmmm..
You all have said well 👏👏👋
This is not the North American franchise model. The richest clubs don’t subsidize the less rich.
You got a fee you move on. That fee may have been the reason Vlahovic was signed, now you’re getting an extortionate amount ahain and want to cry poor.
Go ahead and re-invest the entire fee abd strenghten the squad.
@ Hipster,
Whilst i don’t support Juve, i spot on agree with you!
@ Commisso,
Perhaps you should have inserted a sell on clause the next time you part with a future star! Looking at it from a different perspective, one might consider a $60 million fee for Chiesa a steal now especially if he continues with the same type of form he had at the Euros.
In my Candide option Juventus didn’t stole any player, what if the player is not doing well after his sale to Juventus who bears the Lost. So therefore it is wrong to say juve stole a player from any club or Florentine
What does Commisso mean with “Both moves were similar in that the players steadfastly refused to even consider any other club.” It’s better he reinvests all the money he receives for players and builds a big Fiorentina and perhaps thereafter Fiorentina too starts attracting big names, by the way, he should stop his nonsense, lots of big names have played for Fiorentina: Batigol, Rui Costa, Ribery, etc, but, historically, he can’t like Juventus, because many players have left Fiorentina for Juventus. Do I need to mention them Mr Commisso, I believe this is the source of your pain.
I had high hopes for Commisso as an Italian American living the dream of buying a club. He came in and spent money quickly, but has had no success. More importantly his star player like Chiesa want out because of his premadonna attitude. Rocco, this is Italy, it isn’t the US where fans love the Mark Cuban’s of the world. Winning matters. Comments like this just make you seem petty.
As a fellow Calabrese like Commisso, I also had high aspirations when he bought the team (and enough of him dabbling with the New York Cosmos, he can finally support a true soccer club). His comments like this, or even from earlier when he suggested some else buy the team if they didn’t the way he was running it…just diarrhea of the mouth. Shut up already and put together an entertaining team. They may not win a scudetto, but they have the makings of a top 10 team if they can keep consistency at the managerial level.
Sounds like sour grapes to me.
Isn’t that just how the world works? More money means you have more spending power. It’s like two businesses and one has greater finances than the other. Obviously the business with the greater finances will be able to invest and have greater spending power.