Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso hits out at other clubs who post massive losses, is still bitter at Dusan Vlahovic for forcing an exit, but insists the sale to Juventus ‘didn’t ruin us.’
The out-spoken patron sat down with Sportitalia this evening and vented his frustration at the financial situation of several Serie A clubs.
“In recent years, Juventus have lost €550m, Milan €500m and Inter €445m. Over the last three years, Fiorentina have made a profit of €16m,” said Commisso.
“After purchasing Cristiano Ronaldo, the value of Juventus was €2bn, then they had two increases in capital and today it’s worth €800m. They lost over €1bn in value.”
Fiorentina sold several players to Juventus over the years, despite the protests of fans, but made sure Federico Chiesa and Vlahovic were paid handsomely.
Vlahovic was a rare case in that he made the transfer in the January window, therefore robbing the Viola of their top scorer.
“I already reinvested all the money that we got from the sales, though we’re still owed money for Chiesa and Vlahovic.
“I was negotiating with Vlahovic and his agent, I came to Florence even when I was ill, but they wanted €5-8m net, so that’s €16m gross per season.
“We didn’t get the same number of goals as with him on the pitch, but the results were still more or less the same. We certainly weren’t ruined by that sale.”
The exit became necessary when contract extension talks collapsed and there was the risk of losing Vlahovic as a free agent.
“Both I and Joe Barone believed he was honest and that he would renew his contract. Once the summer session closed, he became the King. Negotiations for a renewal had been going for eight months and his agents told us he would’ve signed a new deal for €4m.”
Commisso is not afraid to get involved with advice for coach Vincenzo Italiano after a difficult start to the season in Serie A and the Conference League.
“I told Italiano, I don’t like all these passes back to the goalkeeper. We have 70-75% possession and don’t win, then with Verona just 40% and we won. It’s important to pass the ball vertically.”