Fiorentina president taunts Juventus over Dusan Vlahovic deal

Fiorentina President Rocco Commisso has aimed a sly dig at Dusan Vlahovic’s move to Juventus, claiming the deal was better for his side than it was for the Old Lady.

Vlahovic joined the Bianconeri in January last year in a big-money move from La Viola following his goalscoring exploits at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

He scored nine goals in all competitions in the second half of the season, helping Juventus scrape to a top-four finish.

Following his adaptation period, the Serbia international has failed to hit the heights he reached in Florence, netting just ten times in 23 games this term.

Commisso explained why he was satisfied with the deal during a seminar at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Florence on Thursday.

“He wanted to go to Juventus,” Commisso said (via Firenzeviola). “Many criticised us, and the newspapers wrote: Cabral and Jovic hadn’t scored until recently, but it wasn’t true. 

“Outside of Inter [Milan] and Napoli, Fiorentina are on par with Juventus, [AC] Milan, and others, but no one has written about it.”

Upon Vlahovic’s departure, Fiorentina signed Arthur Cabral, while Luka Jovic also joined on a free transfer from Real Madrid last summer.

Both strikers have scored a combined 20 goals in all competitions this season, and Commisso was quick to highlight their impact while taking a swipe at Juventus over Vlahovic’s price tag.

“We paid Cabral and Jovic €15 million and €0, and they have already scored us 20 goals in the three competitions we play in,” Commisso added.

“Vlahovic instead, in Turin, scored ten goals, two of which from a penalty, and he is exactly half of our two forwards. And in all of this, we collected €70m. 

“The Cabral-Jovic deal was excellent for us, Vlahovic’s, not for Juventus.”

Vlahovic is a proven goalscorer, but the Serbian has already been linked with a move away from Juventus just over a year after joining the Italian giants.

Arsenal, who were hot on his heels before his move to Juventus, are reportedly still interested in signing him. Bayern Munich are also keeping tabs on the player’s development in Turin.