Santiago Silva's agent has defended the striker's quiet start to life in Serie A, and promised he will be firing on all cylinders once fit.
Santiago Silva's agent has defended the striker's quiet start to life in Serie A, and promised he will be firing on all cylinders once fit.
The 30-year-old much-travelled Uruguayan arrived with reasonable expectations, but has found his initial performances come under scrutiny, particularly with Sinisa Mihajlovic preferring Stevan Jovetic in attack in place of the injured Alberto Gilardino.
The striker's representative Pablo Bentacur explained to firenzeviola.it that the issue surrounds the player's lack of preparedness, given he was signed by Fiorentina in late August, with the rest of the squad nearing the end of pre-season, but Silva yet to have begun his.
"He has come with some physical limitations because he was not playing that much. The Argentine championship had not yet started and he was probably affected by the workload.
"When he arrived in Florence he had not had an initial period of training, so I think this period is normal.
"He is different from Gilardino, who scores so many goals. He operates as more than just a striker, he works hard in attack and defence. He does not just wait for the ball in the penalty area, he moves, attacks space, links up with teammates.
"In Velez, all played for him, he was central and the most important player. Now he has to adapt to a new reality, and for that you need a few months."
Due to the player's age, there was even speculation that he may not last long at the club, but Bentacur refutes that.
"He came to Italy to stay. He has already rented a villa in Florence, his wife and daughter are already learning Italian with a personal tutor.
"In short, in my experience I have never seen a player settle completely with such speed to a totally different environment. If he starts to score, you will see, this is no stop-over."
Bentacur is also one of the agents that represents Gaston Ramirez and confirmed reports that at once stage of the summer he was set to also join Fiorentina, with a deal in the future still a possibility.
It follows another agent of Ramirez' confirmation on Thursday that the player is likely to leave Bologna by the end of this season.
"It is still very early, but [Pantaleo] Corvino has always liked him and time will tell. In any case, in August everything was done, then it all fell through as Felipe refused to go to Bologna.
"Today is another day. Fiorentina has always shown interest in the boy, and I repeat, time will tell. In the future, never say never."