Fiorentina director Carlos Freitas awaits developments from Federico Bernardeschi and Nikola Kalinic, then confirms the moment Paulo Sousa had to leave.
The Viola failed to qualify for Europe and parted company with Coach Sousa when his contract came to an end.
“Fiorentina will be active on the market and we have to build a team suitable for Europe. In the last five years, we’ve been in Europe four times and want to get back there,” director of sport Freitas told the Corriere Fiorentino newspaper.
Fiorentina director Carlos Freitas awaits developments from Federico Bernardeschi and Nikola Kalinic, then confirms the moment Paulo Sousa had to leave.
The Viola failed to qualify for Europe and parted company with Coach Sousa when his contract came to an end.
“Fiorentina will be active on the market and we have to build a team suitable for Europe. In the last five years, we’ve been in Europe four times and want to get back there,” director of sport Freitas told the Corriere Fiorentino newspaper.
“Sousa’s destiny was decided in the home defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach. It was a point of no return, including in our internal relations.”
The future is up in the air, as Bernardeschi is yet to give a reply to the offer of a new contract and Milan continue to push for €30m-rated Kalinic.
“Fiorentina made the first step. He is a special player, who were grew in house, so this is why we proposed a contract without a release clause.
“Nobody has been put on the market, not even Kalinic. If an offer arrives, we will evaluate it, but a sale won’t damage our competitiveness.
“We have to treat these things in a more natural way, as if a club has revenue three times as large as ours, they’ll make offers we cannot match. That doesn’t mean we’ve done a bad job.”
The Viola have already identified their new forward, as for weeks they have been in talks with Genoa for Giovanni Simeone.
“We have Kalinic and Khouma Babacar, but must be prepared for any eventuality. Simeone really impressed us and, along with Patrik Schick, was the surprise of this season. So if Nikola were to leave…”