[FM24] Purple Reign - Catapulting Fiorentina to the top of Italian Football

[TheJanitor]

A.C.F. Fiorentina

Why Fiorentina? Well, who doesn't like Fiorentina? Okay, I guess Juventus fans doesn’t. And Bologna fans. And some fans of other teams too, but overall, the Tuscan club is a second team for many, and with a good reason. The iconic purple, the highs and lows, the legends who graced Stadio Artemio Franchi –  Baggio, Batistuta, Rui Costa, Mutu, Toni, Toldo, Chiesa, Passarella – a real who’s who of Calcio, from different eras and styles. There is something for everyone in this club. Also, and I know I'm a minority on this, but honestly, once the game is mostly regens, I tend to lose interest. This means lower league saves are less enticing for me. Despite that, I prefer some challenge, so an iconic club that based itself in mid-table in recent years is perfect for me.

Historically, I Viola spent most of their time in Serie A, and have two scudettos for their name, with the last one being in 1969. Years of mismanagement led the club to bankruptcy in 2002, but it was reestablished immediately, going from Serie C2 to Serie A in two seasons (that’s a whole story in itself). Since gaining promotion, Fiorentina based itself as a top-half side, often qualifying for European competitions, but since the 2015/16 season never finished higher than 8th. The youth academy isn’t particularly renowned, however, an impressive list of players came through in recent years, like Federico Chiesa, Federico Bernardeschi, Gianluca Mancini, and Nicolo Zaniolo.

For this save, I would like to impose some transfer guidelines

1. Use the academy. As I stated before, it has been fairly successful in recent years, and I would like to use it. Not an academy save, but try to keep as much players in the team as possible.
2. Have an Italian core. Inspired by the successful Spain team that dominated Europe in the early years of the previous decade, and had a core of players from Barcelona. I want an Italian squad that is successful and influenced by my Fiorentina team.
3. Spice it up with some South American flair. Traditionally, Fiorentina have a few South Americans in their team. Batigol obviously comes to mind, whilst arguably the best player in the existing squad is another Argentinian, Nico Gonzalez.
4. Okay, sign some other players. I am not putting a hard limit on anything, the above is just my preference. If Mbappe becomes available for free, I wouldn't mind having him around.

That's that for now. Next update will focus on the existing squad at the club.

N.B.: In the past I have created a few threads that didn't progress much past an update or two. To avoid this, this time I have reached half-way through the second season before posting this. I will space out the updates a bit. Hope you will follow!

Edited November 30, 2023 by TheJanitor

[TheJanitor]

Squad Analysis - 2023/24 Season

First season starts without the first window for me, so a capable starting squad is important.

Goalkeepers

A team is only as good as it's goalkeeper, and in Pietro Terracciano we have a solid pair of hands. At 33, a young replacement should be considered and in the Danish international Oliver Christensen we might have just that. He is a modern sweeper-keeper type like we all love but significant progress will be needed.

Rightbacks

Dodo is the leading RB at game start, but he will be out for the entire season with an injury. With his absence, the young Michael Kayode will be entrusted with a starting role. His contract is up in 2025 and will require renewal ASAP as he is our biggest prospect.

Academy graduate Niccolo Pierozzi starts with an injury, but once he returns will provide cover at both flanks.

Centerbacks

Old FM favorite Nikola Milenkovic is still at the club, and he is by some distance our highest earner on a long-term contract. He will be a definite starter at the back, but the question is who will partner him?

Veteran Yerry Mina joined the club on a free and he is capable, but will be unavailable due to injury for the first few months. Luca Ranieri might be the leading candidate. Trained at club, young, left-footed. Not without his flaws, mind you. Finally, Lucas Martinez Quarta comes with a lot of international pedigree, but there isn't much between him and Ranieri, and the latter has a higher ceiling.

Christian Dalle Mura is an interesting academy prospect, but chances might be limited for him during the first season.

Leftbacks

Look at this Italian setup... Club captain Cristiano Biraghi will share the starting berth with new arrival Fabiano Parisi. The latter is very talented and has NT in the future. The former is a current international and still a good attacking fullback. Ranieri and Pierozzi can provide emergency backup in the future.

Defensive Midfielders

Mixed group with a lot of decisions needed to be made. Rolando Mandragora starts his second season at the club. He's a well rounded left-footed player, without being special at anything. Sofyan Amrabat is sadly out on loan at Manchester United for the season. His contract is up at the end of the season, and I wouldn't want to miss him (on a free at least), but his demands a very high for us. Remains to be seen this one.

Next, we have the two loan-ins. First, former Barcelona, Juventus, and Liverpool regista Arthur will try to revive his career in Florence. He got a £17.25M clause which might be a bargain if he remains injury-free, but that's a big if. Maxime Lopez is much more durable and with a cheaper clause of just £7.75M is more likely to remain at the club.

Last but not least, Alfred Duncan is a veteran who profiles more like a destroyer. Also in the last year of his contract, but not as valuable as Amrabat. That being said, his demands are lower, so he might be retained.

Attacking Midfielders

As I am planning to play with a 4-2-3-1, the former Milan man Giacomo Bonaventura will play a crucial role as our leading AMC. Yet another player who's contract is up by the end of the season, I will do my best to retain him despite his age, due to his quality and Professional personality. He will be backed by Antonin Barak, who is less of a typical AMC playmaker and more of a second striker, former wonderkid Gaetano Catrovilli, who will return from injury towards the end of the season, and Gino Infantino, a promising new signing from Rosario.

Out on loan we have Abdelhamid Sabiri and Alexandr Kokorin. Neither look like they have the quality needed to play for us.

Wingers

All my wingers can play right and left, so I will split them to left-footed and right-footed.

Starting with the lefties, I already mentioned Nicolas Gonzalez, an excellent attacker who kinda reminds me of a young Luis Suarez - quick and flairy, but also got a lot of bite. My tactic will aim to get the best out of him. The side effect - clubs will likely come for him with offers that will be though to resist. Jonathan Ikone will miss the start of the season with an injury, but should return soon enough to provide ample cover.

The right-footed options are homegrown Riccardo Sottil and Josip Brekalo. If I could fuse the workrate of the former with the technical ability of the latter, I would have some player here, but for now, both are decent options.

Forwards

With Gonzalez spending most of his time out wide, the solitary spot upfront will be initially shared by new signings M'Bala Nzola and Lucas Beltran, with Christian Kouame providing a backup for both. With his contract up at the end of the season, Kouame is a candidate to depart in January.

That's what we start with. In terms of tactics, I'm thinking about a 4-2-3-1 that tries to get milage of Nico Gonzalez out wide.

[TheJanitor]

2023/24 - Mid-Season Update

Serie A: Table | Results

Coppa Italia: Results

Conference League: Table | Results

So we are halfway through season 1 and things are not too shabby. We are safe in 3rd place, competing with the Milanese teams for the top spot. In the Coppa Italia we disappointingly bowed out in the third-round, losing to Monza. In the Conference League things are going much better as we finished top of our group with perfect results and qualified to the round of 16.

Things didn’t get off to a very promising start though. While we were getting results, it was a bit sluggish. Switching tactics only made things worse, so we returned to the 4-2-3-1 and our persistence payed off with near-flawless performances November and December. Emblematic to our improvement on the pitch is Nico Gonzalez, who netted 12 our of his 17 goals during this period. The big teams are already sniffing around him, but it will take something remarkable to get him off our hands mid-season. He is on a long-term contract and there is no release clause, so I am definitely under no pressure to sell. Speaking about contracts, we renewed Giacomo Bonaventura, Michael Kayode, Alfred Duncan, and Luca Ranieri.

In our 4-2-3-1, Gonzalez locked in the AMR position, while Bonaventura did the same in the AMC position. The other two positions in the front four are under greater competition. Up-front, Lucas Beltran got the nod initially and picked up form with the rest of the team, scoring 7 goals and assisting twice. This made M’Bala Nzola unhappy about his backup status, demanding transfer, and causing some unrest in the locker room. I gave Nzola some game time and he responded with 5 goals in 6, leaving me with a selection headache.

And it is just as complex wide left. On one hand, we have Josip Brekalo, who is second only to Nico Gonzalez in terms of goal involvements. On the other, we have Riccardo Sottil, who is co-leading the assists chart with 6. Add to this Jonathan Ikone, who found more opportunities down that flank since returning from injury and performed well. The midfield is under heavy rotation as well, with Arthur, Rolando Mandragora, Maxime Lopez, and Alfred Duncan getting between 12-17 starts each.

In defense, we have our other leading assister Fabiano Parisi, who also added 3 goals to his name. That being said, Cristiano Biraghi is not going down without a fight, scoring 5 times and assisting 4. The rest of the backline is more settled, with Nikola Milenkovic, Luca Ranieri, and Michael Kayode nailing first-choice positions. Pietro Terracciano unsurprisingly claimed the spot between the posts. During the month of September, he and backup keeper Oliver Christensen got injured which prompted the temporary promotion of U20 keeper Tommaso Martinelli. He put some impressive displays, improved, and now is being compared to a certain Gianluigi Buffon. Still a long way to go, but nice to see that an academy prospect is doing well.

Edited December 1, 2023 by TheJanitor

[warlock]

On a good run now... anything is possible, but a title challenge is on the cards, and European qualification should be a given.

Keep it up 

[Jogo Bonito]

A great choice of club and nice opening posts. I wish you good luck in your journey with la Viola!

[TheJanitor]

2023/24 - January Window Quick Update

Every January a curve ball is thrown at your season. For us, it was not different. Let's take a look at our major outgoings first:

The biggest outgoing was Rolando Mandragora, who performed really well for us this season, and I didn't want to see depart. However, a big offer for Saudi Arabia came and his agent indicated that Mandragora would like for it to be accepted. Overall, I am happy with this deal despite losing a key midfielder.

Other than that, Gino Infantino didn't really progress despite some decent performances and was loaned out to Lens. There is a £4.2M mandatory fee after 10 games + additional £2.3M, which is a profit on the £2.6M Fiorentina originally paid to get him in. Also, despite signing a contract extension earlier this year, Alfred Duncan complained about game time and asked for a transfer, so he was off to Qatar. Finally, I was happy to get any sort of fee for Christian Kouame, who was ending his contract and spent most of his time on the bench.

Now, looking at our new arrivals:

With Mandragora and Duncan leaving, we were left with two midfielders (and both were loaned in), so some fresh blood was needed. In came Edoardo Bove, a model citizen box to box midfielder who was not getting game time at Roma. Tommaso Pobega suffered similar fate in Milan, and was brought on an initial loan that will be completed should we reach continental competition. These two, hopefully, would sort our midfield for the foreseeable future. Finally, I wasn't planning on bringing a keeper until the summer, but an additional injury to Terracciano and a money burning in our pocket led me to Marco Carnesecchi from Atalanta. He is already in the level of our first choice and 10 years younger.

All and all, I am please with how this window went. I lost an important player, but not one who is irreplaceable, and brought in three promising Italian youngsters who will immediately get on our first team.

[AlfieLucas]

Great choice of club. Even though Inter are my Italian team, i've always held a soft spot for Fiorentina. Loved watching them back in the day, Batistuta being one of my favourites, Rui Costa as well. Keep up the good work.

[TheJanitor]

2023/24 - End of Season Update

Serie A: Table | Results

Coppa Italia: Results

Conference League: Results

A few what-ifs don't ruin what was an overall successful season for I Viola, as we ended up finishing 3rd and qualifying for the Champions League for the first time since the 09/10 season. We were actually able to keep ourselves in the title fight close to the end, but poor form in May killed any chance we had. I already covered the Coppa, which we disappointingly bowed out of in the third round. We got much further in the Conference League though, and a semi final appearance is not too bad, but the lose to Brugge stings because we were the better team, and we had a strong chances of beating eventual winners Betis in the final.

Still, we were selected as the best team in Serie A, so we didn't do too bad.

The Scudetto was eventually won by Inter, who probably deserved more than us and Milan. Juventus and Roma both had disappointing campaigns, which saw Allegri and Mourinho fired. They were replaced by Antonio Conte and Patrick Vieira respectively. Udinese suffered a disappointing relegation along with Cagliari and Verona.

Milan beat Napoli to win the Coppa Italia. After a fairly successful time at the helm, Stefano Pioli resigned and took over the NT after Spalletti quit. The Rossoneri replaced him with a returning legend, Carlo Ancelotti. They will definitely be a problem next season.

Team of the Season

Can't really argue with it. The only change I would make is Michael Kayode over Biraghi, as he started almost exclusively in RB and did a great, if more understated job. Nicolas Gonzalez had the season of his lifetime, winning the Capocannoniere award with 23 goals and the Serie A Footballer of the Year award. In times were our performances were not good enough, he carried us through and won points on his own. Transfer of the year is Tommaso Pobega, through I am counting on all of our new arrivals to make their impact next season.

[abulezz]

All three of the January signings looked great. How did they perform as compared to your expectations?

[TheJanitor]

33 minutes ago, abulezz said:

All three of the January signings looked great. How did they perform as compared to your expectations?

Well, in their first half season, they did well without being too spectacular. Bove in particular didn't get plenty of time to impress, as I preferred stability. Long term, I guess we will see 

 

Thanks for following, and thanks to anyone who replied!

[TheJanitor]

2024/25 - Summer Transfer Window

Goodbye, Nicolas Gonzalez

Out goes the first hero of this save. Like Luis Suarez in his final season at Liverpool, this was a done deal long before a bid was made. Man City made a bid of £70M, potentially rising to £78M, and Nico Gonzalez was gone. He might be worth more in the current market, but City's offer was not negotiable and he really wanted to go, so I thought I will let him. After all, it is still massive money for a club like Fiorentina. Actually, it is the highest transfer fee we ever received.

Outgoing Transfers

Other than Nico, a few other prominent names departed. Most notably, long-time server Nikola Milenkovic, who joined Neymar and Mourinho at Al-Hilal. Again, the fee seems a bit low, but he didn't became a key player for me like I accepted, and this deal allowed me to invest further. A combined £35M for Josip Brekalo and Jonathan Ikone is excellent for me, despite their solid season, as I feel like I made some upgrades in their position.

Incoming Transfers

Maxime Lopez and Tommaso Pobega made their loans permanent. Arthur returns to Juventus, as his fee and wages were too much for my taste. Couldn't skip Assane Diao on a free despite the fact that I am not certain about him. Tommaso Baldanzi became our record transfer. He was my main target from an early stage - a perfect young Italian Trequartista, he is someone that I plan the team to revolve around long-term. Thiago Almada joins to replace the void left by the departing attacking midfielders and is quite a bargain for this fee. Nehuen Perez is our Milenkovic replacement, while freebee Guido Rodriguez adds some much-needed steel to our midfield. Francesco Pio Esposito and Valentin Carboni are homegrown wonderkids, and both got cheap optional clauses. Emanuele Valeri joins as a cheap backup for Parisi. The next Baresi (according to the game) Filippo Mane joins on a cheap from Dortmund and is immediately loaned out to get some game time. Finally, a bit of an opportunistic signing from relegated Udinese, the very promising Simone Pafundi who, along with Baldanzi, is the future of Italian playmakers.

Overall, I am pleased with out transfers. It's going to be a challenge to replace Gonzalez goal output, but in Baldanzi, Almada, and Pafundi around we should have plenty of creativity and Esposito and Carboni will add a level of directness.

[AlfieLucas]

Those incomings and outgoings, in my opinion are really good. Excellent fee for Nico, i've seen him go for free. But your incomings, especially Baldanzi & Pafundi (who turns out one of the best if you manage him well). Looking forward to future updates. I think you're inspiring me to do a I Viola save in the near future.

[TheJanitor]

2024/25 - Season Review

As I am already close to halfway through the 3rd season, I wanted to streamline things with a full season review.

Serie A

Sometimes a football team does the impossible and breaks a decades-long wait to win the championship. And friends, it happened this season in the Serie A!

On the surface, a 2nd place finish is an excellent progression on our previous season, especially considering we lost our best player. But this has been one of the most frustrating seasons I have ever had in Football Manager. Ever. We were top of the league from match day 5 to match day 26. Torino were 4th when January came. They then started an incredible run, beating Inter, Roma, Lazio, Milan, and yes, us, in a match that if we won would have put us on par with them. We actually finished the season strong, but Torino went unstoppable and won in a truly spectacular fashion.

The table tells the story - draws, lots of them, and quite often against weaker sides. In fact, we really struggled filling the Nico Gonzalez shaped hole in front of goal, with our highest scorer this season being Thiago Almada, who scored 16 in his debut season, 14 in the league. Not bad for a new player, especially considering he is an attacking midfielder and not a forward, but not what you want from your highest scorer. Almada also contributed 12 assists, in what was an excellent start to life in Florence. Another player who kicked things off well is Tomasso Baldanzi, with 12 goals and 11 assists in all competitions.

Frosinone, Brescia, and Suditol got relegated.

 

Champions League

In our return to the Champions League, we struggled quite a bit, primarily with understanding the new format for this competition. However, we were able to get past the league phase and reach the play off round:

In the play offs, we got one of our best results of the season, beating Ajax at home 4-0. In the round of 16 we met Bayern, and beat them 1-0 at home, but lost 3-1 in the return game to bow out respectfully from the Champions League.

 

Coppa Italia

You want to know were we didn't bow out respectfully from? The cup. We got knocked out in the third round again, this time to Cagliari, from the 2nd division. Hopefully next season we will be able to give it a go, as it is a very winable cup. It was eventually won by Torino, who completed a double. What an amazing season for them.

 

January Transfers

Let's start with the outgoings:

A few loans with two noticeable outgoings. First, former starting keeper Pietro Terracciano was unhappy with his diminishing game time and move to Pisa.  Second, M'bala Nzola fell behind Lucas Beltran in the pecking order and added a single goal to his tally before beginning his middle eastern adventure.

Now, the new Violas:

Former FM wonderkid Simone Scuffet replaces Terracciano as our backup goalkeeper. Versatile defenders Leandro Morgalla and Robert Renan joined to add depth and youth to our defense. This allowed us to play with a back three, which is something we did a bit this season.

 

Youth Academy Intake

So, last season, I didn't miss out on the new regens update. There was just sadly not much to update about - non of the regens will probably last past their initial contract, let alone play for the first team. However, this season we go two interesting players. Federico Santelli is a cool speedy winger who can turn out quite good, but Manuel Remorini looks like the more interesting prospect. A complete player, I am training him to play in the central midfield.

 

Team of the Season

Edited December 5, 2023 by TheJanitor

[TheJanitor]

2025/26 - Pre-Season

Towards the end of last season, a disappointing run of results cost us the Serie A championship. Our main was facing teams that were willing to defend deep. We spent most of last season rotating between a diamond and 3-4-1-2, but this season we will shift slightly towards a narrow 4-1-2-2-1 and a more defensive 3-5-2 formation, giving the Regista role a chance, with hope that it would help us unlock teams that are defending with a low block against us:

Spoiler

Spoiler

Despite a disappointing finish, finishing 2nd has to be considered a success and with a young squad that will only get better, I didn't see a need for a massive shake up.

Outgoing Transfers

Spoiler

I didn't plan to sell Guido Rodriguez. He was really solid since joining on a free last season, but I really couldn't refuse such a massive deal. Another big one was Sofyan Amrabat. On the first season, he was out loan at Man Utd. The second one he spent almost entirely out with an injury, and honestly? I didn't really miss him. So I transfer listed him and got a nice fee from Valencia. Lucas Martinez Quarta never really hit the ground running for me and was listed as well.

Incoming Transfers

Spoiler

Two transfers that were arranged before the last season ended were long-term target Cesare Casadei and Lorenzo Pirola. The former was a long-term target like Baldanzi and Pafundi. He had two solid seasons out on loan at Leicester and Fulham and was available for a decent fee in my opinion. Probably did not develop yet as he would have if I had him earlier on, but can still improve significantly. Pirola is a young, left-footed, Italian defender who should commend first-team place either in a back three or four. Valentin Carboni and Francesco Pio Esposito are, as Jose Mourinho would say, investments from the past. Hopefully Esposito could put his injury issues behind him,

Finally, I was looking for a player who could play the Regista role. After my scouts couldn't come up with anything, I searched based on attributes and came up with Valentin Barco, who actually looks like a great fit for this role. Didn't get the chance to sign him yet, so I jumped on the chance. Some retraining will be needed -  I would like to remove the Get Forward Whenever Possible PPM - but he is already adapting well to his new position.

Pre-Season Results

Spoiler

Our new tactics provided good results in the pre-season games, but it's way too early to judge them. Our opener against recently promoted Udinese would provide more information, but the follow-up against Napoli would be more substantial.

Edited December 7, 2023 by TheJanitor

[Jogo Bonito]

Finishing 2nd was a great season, just a bit of a shock to see Torino being the team above you!

I like the recruitment model: mostly either young or prime age, lots of Italians, with the odd Argentine which is in line with club tradition.

The future looks bright, and it's enjoyable to follow.

[TheJanitor]

2025/26 - Mid-Season Update

January kicked off 2026 and it is time to review the first half of the season. Before we get to the results, let's take a look a few transfers that were made before the end of the summer transfer window:

Spoiler

One additional departure was made - club captain Cristiano Biraghi was unhappy with lack of game time and requested a transfer. Betis swooped in and off he goes. Would have loved to keep him, but he was displaced by Fabiano Parisi, who now also replaces him as club captain.

Of course no Italian club that takes itself seriously is complete without loans, so in order to bring more bodies in, Destiny Udogie, Yunus Musah, and Luka Romero came in. All with optional clauses that will likely not be triggered.

Serie A - Table

Spoiler

Serie A - Results

Spoiler

We are in the all so familiar 2nd place, this time trying to topple a more familiar title challenger in the shape of Inter. Torino are not having a bad season - mind you they were 4th last January before and ended up winning the season. We stuck primarily to the narrow 4-1-2-2-1 but the lose to Atalanta encouraged me to try something new - a 3-4-2-1 formation that provided us with the best performances since the start of the season. This includes incredible away results against Roma and Juventus. Hopefully, it will remain, as we tend to lose steam towards the second half of the season.

Unfortunately, against Roma Valentin Barco broke his leg and will miss 4-5 months with injury. This is rough but hopefully we solved it in the January window (more on that later). Sadly we only have one sport scientist is the club is refusing to add more, despite all ridiculous money we've made recently.

Champions League - Table

Spoiler

Champions League - Results

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Quite pleased, as we are close to qualifying for the 2nd year in a row. The win against Bayern is a particular highlight. Next two matches are a very winnable home game against Villarreal and an impossible task against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They are coached by De Zerbi now, by the way, who took over caretaker John Terry who replaced Poch who failed quite a bit with them. The finished 4th in the league last season, and 7th the season prior.

Players

Our top goalscorer is quite surprisingly Francesco Gio Esposito, with 12 goals in 8 starts and 9 sub appearances. Topping the assists chart are wing backs Michael Kayode and Fabiano Parisi, which isn't surprising considering they are important part of our attacking play.

Player of the Round: Tommaso Baldanzi

Our most consistent player and one of my favorite FM signings ever, I think. Plays usually as a Shadow Striker but fills other roles as well - either as a Trequartista or a False 9. Got 8 goals and 2 assists so far this season.

Honorable Mention: Simone Pafundi

Not as consistent as TB11, but worth a mention simply because how well he is developing. He also plays multiple roles - the reverse of Baldanzi, actually, playing as a False 9 more often than not. Got 4 goals and 3 assists.

January Transfer Window

We already a few transfers. First, as a short term replacement for the injured Barco, we brought Jorginho from Arsenal. At best, he rolls back the years in Florence. At worst, we got an experienced backup player with good personality. And you just know he will turn out to be a good coach. Two additional players will come in as well: 17 year olds Angelo Caserta from Napoli and Matthew Barlow from Millwall. Both were suggest by my scouts and come to add numbers to our U20 team. Hopefully the will develop nicely.

Currently being targeted by other clubs are Thiago Almada, Edoardo Bove, and Maxime Lopez. I am not in a rush to sell any of them, but I might be tempted for Lopez, as he is not getting lots of game time.

Edited December 7, 2023 by TheJanitor

[warlock]

1 hour ago, TheJanitor said:

Matthew Barlow from Millwall

Millwall youngsters being snapped up in Italy... what a time to be alive 

It's been a good start to the season. Hopefully you can finish stronger this time around.

[TheJanitor]

2025/26 - (yet another) Mid-Season Update

Finally I caught up with the actual save and can write in real time. I didn't plan to do another mid-season update, but since the months of January - April were so action-packed, I decided it would be worthwhile.

January

Spoiler

January started with a Supercoppa semi final lose to Milan, but honestly that competition doesn't bother me too much. Anyway, we were able to finish 3rd after beating Inter. We were able to get past our Coppa Italian curse by defeating Hellas Verona in unspectacular fashion. January started a trend of injuries and THE FLU (!!!) that haunted us all the way through the following week. We lost Pafundi, Carnesecchi, Balzandi, and Jorginho for a few weeks, along with a few others with smaller injuries. Thankfully, results in the league remained good, and we were able keep 2nd place and maintain our title challenge.

The Champions League was less ideal, but thanks to our good start we were able to qualify for the playoffs.

Transfer Window

January wasn't as busy as the summer window, however there were a few big deals made. First, starting with the outgoings:

Spoiler

Biggest departure was Thiago Almada. I really didn't want to sell him, however, Bayern came with a bid and he wanted to go. Honestly, he wasn't as good this season as he was the last one, and we made solid profit. Gaetano Castrovilli wanted to leave for a while now so I accepted Mallorca's loan deal that can become permanent. Finally, with Luca Ranieri we are saying goodbye to another home-grown player. He regressed and didn't feature as much for us due to Pirola and Renan locking in his position, so I cashed in when Atalanta made bid.

Now for the incomings:

Spoiler

A lot of youngsters that my HoYD suggested, as I needed to add numbers to the U20 team. We previously discussed the signing of Jorginho as a replacement for the injured Barco. In addition, we brought in Stefano Turati from Sassuolo. Carnesecchi was a few weeks out with an injury, and Martinelli struggled to provide adequate replacement, but also, Carnesecchi was under-preforming so I wanted someone who could eventually replace him, so I triggered Tuarti's release clause. Could end up being a waste of money, but a gamble worth taking.

Also, a free transfer was arranged for next season. Lazar Samardzic was a long term target for us, but we never made a move due to fees/wages. When I got a message in my inbox that he was approaching the end of his contract I acted quickly and got him in. A bargain on a free, and should provide a great replacement for Almada next season.

February

Spoiler

February is were the injuries and THE FLU (!!!) really started doing some damage, along with a very difficult run of games. We lost Baldanzi (again), Esposito, Parisi, Udogie (the last two leaving us with no natural left backs). We were able to ride out this month, and thanks to Inter suffering a rare run of bad form, we were only 3 points from first place. That being said, we were now 3rd after Milan leapfrogged us.

In the Champions League, we qualified to the round of 16 after beating Feyenoord. I am proud of the boys for being able to put decent displays, despite the random lineups I had to pick due to injuries.

March

Spoiler

Hello Bayern our old friends. We can be slightly disappointed about not winning this one, as we were the better side at home, however overall I am satisfied with our Champions League campaign. In the league, we barely won against Lecce, but once all the players returned from injury we started putting good performances again. Finally, in the first leg of the Coppa Italia, we crushed Milan, putting ourselves in a very good position to go to the final. In the other semi final, Napoli beat Atalanta 2-0.

Meanwhile, Inter poor run continues as they lost to Atalanta and drew against Roma. This leaves the situation in the league like so:

Spoiler

We are 1st, for the first time since match day 5, with 8 games to go, but Milan, Inter, and even Napoli can all pounce the moment we lose points. April is going to have a few very interesting matches: Milan vs. Inter, Milan vs. Torino, Inter vs. Juventus, Napoli vs. Atalanta, and we are going to take on Milan. I believe the title is going to be decided here, and hopefully it will go our way.

Takeover?

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This month we also saw some rumors about takeover escalating towards the appointment of a new chairperson. I have no idea how much influence it will have on the club. It doesn't look like some tycoon takeover, but I guess it could bring some changes to the club philosophies. Maybe a new chairperson would grant us more than one Sport Scientist, so we would have less injuries.

[Jogo Bonito]

Another fantastic season, good to see that. I saw Kayode playing for the Italy Youth Team this summer (along with the winger Burnley signed) and happy to see him involved for you. But Parisi and Destiny are also a great pair to have in your ranks on the other side of the pitch. Keep up the good work, hope you get over the line.

[TheJanitor]

11 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Another fantastic season, good to see that. I saw Kayode playing for the Italy Youth Team this summer (along with the winger Burnley signed) and happy to see him involved for you. But Parisi and Destiny are also a great pair to have in your ranks on the other side of the pitch. Keep up the good work, hope you get over the line.

Thanks mate (and anyone else who replied or is following). If it interest you, here is a screenshot of that Burnley winger 3 seasons in: Luca Koleosho. Probably could have developed better with more game time.

2025/26 Title Challenge - April Update

Fiorentina Results

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Inter Results

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https://imgur.com/MT13eRg

Milan Results

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Table

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As you can see, it is still in our hands with 4 games to go, and we qualified again for the Champions League. When we dropped a 2-0 lead to draw with Salernitana, I feared it will be the moment where we lost the league. Thankfully, Inter had their own (potential) defining moment. After successfully getting past Milan and Juventus, they lost at home to relegation candidates Pisa after also being ahead 2-0.

Milan are pretty much out from the competition after a disaster of a month. They only managed two wins, neither was in the league, and both didn't matter because they lost on aggregate. This includes a 2-1 loss to an already relegated Como. Ouch. Napoli leapfrogged them into 3rd place and still have a decent chance of winning the league. In fact, Napoli can do a double as after beating Atalanta, they will face us in the final of the Coppa Italia.

Remaining Fixtures - Fiorentina

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Remaining Fixtures - Inter

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Remaining Fixtures - Napoli

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In a very ideal situation for us, Inter and Napoli and actually going to face each other next month, promising someone is going to drop points in this race. Sadly for us, we will miss Lucas Beltran and Lorenzo Pirola for this decisive month due to injuries. Interestingly the takeover was completed and the new boss still doesn't believe additional sport scientists are needed. What a weird situation. Despite this, the title is ours to lose. Juventus are that last big hurdle that we need to get past. If we will be able to end this month with a double it will be magical.

Edited December 10, 2023 by TheJanitor

[TheJanitor]

2025/26 - End of Season Update

Let's start in the middle.

Coppa Italia Final

Spoiler

If a 90 mins borefest that transforms into a ridiculous extra time nightmare is your thing, I got just the thing for you. Really, nothing happened in the opening 90 mins, except two, VAR disqualified, goals for both of us. That's why when Casadei scored the opener I was hopeful, but as often happens in football, hope turned into a disappointment.

But at least the league will cheer us up, right?

Results

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Final League Table

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I've done it. I have successfully turned Fiorentina into the Italian version of Leverkusen. For the second year in a row, the league was ours to lose, and for the second year in a row, we lost it. The display against Sassuolo was one of the worst since the start of this save (and the first time in a while where I got a message that fans are leaving early ) and the less said about Cagliari the better.

Ultimately, I can't complain. Inter has a better squad, they played better through out the season - they won the xG table by quite the distance, and most importantly, they just had the personality to power through and win. But this is all a very disappointing way to end the season. I think it might be time to take a break from this save. I'm not ending it yet, but I think it could be the last season.

[Jogo Bonito]

Another very strong challenge but looks like you just ran out of power and energy at the end. Despite this, 2nd is a great success and gives you something to aim for in the new season.

[AlfieLucas]

You've had two really good seasons, 3rd and now 2nd. You've brought in some excellent talent, and i firmly believe you'll be winning the scudetto very, very soon.

[Navelgazer]

Cruel end , but I think you've got this next season.