Marked for Carlo Evangelista
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market4 Jan 2027
Dodo wants more than Fiorentina are offering
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match2 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Fiorentina
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Moise Kean in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fiorentina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Jan 2027
Lecce left with the points after a 3‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Dodo gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
A one-man rearguard from David De Gea
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 31 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market7 Dec 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Fiorentina heard it as anything else.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Dodo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rolando Mandragora, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.82 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match5 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Moise Kean. 1‑0 against AS Roma, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Fiorentina, and 3 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Nov 2026
A 1‑0 win over Livorno, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 31. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market9 Nov 2026
David De Gea wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Fiorentina hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Moise Kean in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fiorentina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.51, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 9.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of David De Gea
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Manor Solomon’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Fiorentina.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
One of those days for Moise Kean
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.60, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Reggiana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Reggiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.65 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
The one thing Cedric Gondo could not do
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
The terraces26 Oct 2026
The spotlight tightens on Charlys
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 32. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A one-man rearguard from David De Gea
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Cher Ndour runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Moise Kean in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fiorentina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.20, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match10 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Manor Solomon. 2‑0 against Hellas Verona, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Roberto Piccoli
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I watch every Fiorentina game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Reggiana runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Reggiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Aug 2026
Catanzaro paid $770.0K and Reggiana took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Match29 Aug 2026
Monza left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market31 Aug 2026
Andrea Seculin is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Reggiana has been clear about where Andrea Seculin stands, which is more than many ever get.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: Erick Ciobanu, 18 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Shots: 5, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A mark of 5.67 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Fiorentina did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market17 Aug 2026
The chase for Christian Donadio ended with $1.3M changing hands and Novara out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Moise Kean in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fiorentina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Luca Lezzerini has come up in conversations Fiorentina were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Rolando Mandragora has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.