After a flurry of moves early in the transfer window, Fabio Paratici is racing the clock to finish assembling his team. Ensconced in the center of that complex clockwork mechanism is Moise Kean. With just a week left in the mercato, the fate of Italy’s best striker remains uncertain, setting up a series of difficult choices for the Viola brain trust as it embarks on the club’s centennial season.
Como has been strongly linked with the 26-year-old, making a laughably low offer last week that Paratici duly rejected. Accordingtomultiplereports, the Lariani are either preparing an improved offer or have already made it. Instead of the €25 million attempt from last week, this one could reach €40 million, likely following the formula of a loan that would become mandatory pending fairly low performance objectives (e.g. 19 Serie A appearances or something similarly attainable).
Kean deserves a lot of credit for keeping his head down in this situation. Just like last summer, neither he nor his camp have expressed any desire to leave Florence despite the swirl of speculation. Even during a subpar 2025-2026—just 8 goals as he dealt with a lower leg issue all season—he proved his credentials on the international stage by nearly dragging the Azzurri into the World Cup. His combination of physical gifts and relentless mindset makes him a nightmare for defenses; in just 27 minutes against Roma in the season opener, he offered more threat than Mateo Pellegrino did in 90.
Despite his obvious excellence, he may have more value to Como than to Fiorentina. The nouveau riche outfit needs players trained in Italy to meet the Champions League squad registration rules. Tasos Douvikas was the capocannoniere runner up last year but for a club competing on 3 fronts for the first time in its history, depth matters. Even without the UEFA requirements, Cesc Fabregas won’t mind combining Kean’s threat in behind with Nico Paz’ creativity.
€40 million feels a bit low for the Moose. After all, this is Italy’s best and most explosive striker, still well within his physical peak, under contract until 2029, and not agitating for a move. However, his club-high €5.7+ million salary stands out. Add to that the facts that he’s got a lengthy and recent injury history and his status as a Daniele Pradé signing and he seems like an obvious candidate for Paratici to sell. There’s also the matter of their past history: the DS flipped him for a surprisingly low fee back in 2019, hinting that he may rate Kean lower than consensus.
Regardless of our thoughts on the matter, every clue points to Kean’s impending departure. Selling Fiorentina’s best player this late in the window looks like a tactical misstep; finding a replacement will be difficult and costly. Pellegrino, despite his €30 million price tag, didn’t look up to the task against Roma (although neither did anyone else), so Paratici will need to move quickly to find a legitimate starting striker alongside a winger and a leftback.
Having this many holes in the squad with so little time left is a throwback to Pradè’s approach. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it really didn’t. One criticism Pradè regularly faced was that his squads, often only completed on deadline day, took too much time to gel, setting the club back in the early stages of the season. Moving off Kean will open Paratici to similar criticism. What once looked like a transformational mercato is now teetering on the brink again. Fortunately, that’s been Fiorentina’s rest state for years so at least the supporters are used to it.
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