(The tape recorder clicks on. The manager is grinning, a massive stack of transfer contracts resting beside a rapidly cooling espresso. The December chill outside the Artemio Franchi is completely offset by the heat radiating from the recruitment office.)
Act I: The Tactical Benching
Sometimes, even your dressing room leaders need a reality check.
After the Monza robbery, I looked at the data. We were dominating games but failing to convert. Pio Esposito, my Italian son, the man who had single-handedly destroyed Iain’s Lazio just weeks prior, was looking fatigued. So, I made the ruthless call. I benched him for the trip to Como. I threw Vedat Muriqi—the human trebuchet—into the starting lineup, hoping his sheer physical chaos would reboot the attacking lines.
It worked. Violently.
True to recent, maddening form, Como scored with their very first shot of the game in the 1st minute through J. Addai. Five minutes later, they scored again through I. Azón. Two down inside six minutes.
But we didn’t panic. The Purple Press activated, heavily aided by our set-piece routines. We proceeded to absolutely massacre them 6-2.
- Riccardo Sottil sparked the comeback (9′).
- Rolando Mandragora orchestrated from deep, equalizing (16′).
- Roger Ibañez—the free transfer gladiator—proved his worth on set pieces, bagging an incredible brace (25′, 73′) and earning a massive 9.0 rating.
- Valentín Carboni (33′) and Vitaly Janelt (63′) completed the six-goal rout.
We racked up 21 shots, 60% possession, and a massive 3.46 xG. The clinical edge was officially back.
Act II: The Scudetto Squeeze
That vital win over Como kept us firmly in the title race, but the margins remain suffocatingly tight.
We are three points off the top. But critically, we have rebuilt a two-point buffer between ourselves and Iain’s Lazio. The proxy war remains tilted in Florence’s favour.
Act III: The Great Transfer Heist
The real battle, however, was waged in the recruitment offices.
The bidding war for Lorenzo Lucca reached its climax. Iain desperately wanted the Udinese target man to bolster his frontline, but I presented Lucca with a highly lucca-rative £95k p/w offer. The financial muscle of the Purple Palace prevailed. Lucca officially rejected Lazio and agreed to sign for Fiorentina for £11.75M.
But I haven’t finalized it. I hit ‘Delay’ for a week.
Why? Because the true prize was secured behind the scenes.
On Friday, 19th December, the ink dried on the most audacious transfer of the save so far. Endrick is officially signing for Fiorentina.
We triggered the £32.5M deal with Real Madrid, offering the 21-year-old Brazilian a massive £105k p/w wage packet. The transfer goes through on January 2nd.
My hesitation on Lucca is purely financial; with Endrick’s massive wages on the books, adding Lucca might break the wage structure entirely.
Act IV: The Goalkeeper Conundrum
With our attack now armed with a Brazilian nuclear option, attention turned back to the defense.
We spotted Mile Svilar on the transfer list at Al-Hilal. I authorized an £8.5M bid, which the Saudi club accepted on December 23rd. It was the perfect opportunity to upgrade on Caprile. Lazio had also made an offer for him the day before.
But Svilar rejected us outright, claiming he wasn’t interested in entering negotiations because he didn’t think we could afford his wage demands.
The rejection stings slightly, but it doesn’t matter. Caprile is holding the line, and if Atubolu gets restless again, we have other goalkeeper targets in mind for the January window.
