After Dusan Vlahovic hinted he could be open to extending his Fiorentina contract, director Joe Barone accused his agent of showing ‘a total lack of respect’ and ‘doubling his demands’ overnight.
The striker’s current contract is due to expire in June 2023 and negotiations for an extension broke down definitively a couple of months ago.
With the Viola flying up the Serie A standings, Vlahovic gave an interview in Serbia that suggested he could reconsider his position and discuss an extended stay at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
However, Fiorentina director Barone was thoroughly unimpressed.
“We don’t want to take the fans for a ride. Vlahovic’s interview was not authorised, a bit like Romelu Lukaku’s one at Chelsea,” said Barone at the presentation of today’s new signing Jonathan Ikone.
“There has been no opening of any doors or different scenarios over the last few weeks, at least as far as we’ve heard from his agent.
“During the most recent meeting with President Rocco Commisso, Vlahovic’s agent almost doubled his demands, showing a total lack of respect for the club and the President.
“I then met with his agent and the same thing happened. There were no steps forward, no progress. We’ve been working on these negotiations for around a year. When we increased our offer, they continued to ask for more in both salary and commissions.”
Juventus continue to have Vlahovic as their main target for the summer, but he is also of interest to Atletico Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur, while Arsenal seem to be off the player’s radar.
Vlahovic turns 22 later this month and continued his remarkable form this season, scoring 18 goals in 22 competitive appearances in the Fiorentina jersey between Serie A and the Coppa Italia.
He shattered club records set by Gabriel Batistuta with 33 Serie A goals during the calendar year 2021, a remarkable nine more than the next player in the list, Lazio’s Ciro Immobile and Inter striker Lautaro Martinez on 24 each.
Barone: “Il procuratore di #Vlahovic ha incontrato #Commisso e ha raddoppiato le proprie richieste. Ha dimostrato una totale mancanza di rispetto nei confronti della #Fiorentina” https://t.co/p9MWTarT88
— Fiorentinanews.com (@Fiorentinanews) January 4, 2022
These agents are unbelievable
Sell him to Juventus don’t force him to renew contract
I love how they are playing the media using the player, his agent and their main rival as villians
I love how this kid plays and wish he would stay longer at Fiorentina, but there only two chances of that happening, slim and none, with slim lagging far behind. This drama only makes the situation worse. If he wanted to stay, he’d stay and tell his agent to get lost.