In the Fiorentina that flies, the cover man is inevitably Moise Kean. Yesterday’s hat-trick against Verona crowned him as the fittest striker of the championship and a candidate for a starting shirt in the Italian national team’s next matches against France and Belgium. Kean, who arrived from Juventus in the summer for ‘only’ 15 million, is already at the quota 8 goals in Serie Awhich are added to the three scored in the Conference League, between the preliminaries and the final phase, for a total of 11 seasonal goals.
The Viola fans, who are daydreaming thanks to the, haven’t seen a start like this in Florence for a long time second place in the standingsalready cause excellent comparisons with sacred monsters such as Batistuta, Toni or Gilardino. Kean in Tuscany found form and a sense of goal, but above all confidence, after dark years in which his undoubted talent was overshadowed by colorless performances and often over the top behavior off the pitch.
And also Luciano Spallettiwho yesterday enjoyed the three goals scored against Hellas from the Franchi stands, could not ignore Kean’s exponential growth. In a historical moment in which Italy does not have an abundance of strikers, the Italian coach first called up Moise first for the October matches, only to then have to withdraw due to an injury, and now for the matches against France and Belgium. The runoff with Mateo Reteguianother center forward reinvigorated by Gasperini at Atalanta and dominator of the scoring charts with 11 goals in Serie A, is open for a starting shirt next Sunday against the Transalpines.
Kean’s rebirth, on and off the pitch
Behind Kean’s rebirth there are tactical reasons and others that go beyond the field and embrace the personal sphere. Moise has always had a particular characterwhich often caused him problems in the locker room and with several coaches. He enjoys rapping and has his own style, which often leads him to show off eclectic outfits. He loves being the center of attention, but often suffers from pressure. In Turin, wearing the Juventus shirt, he couldn’t hear trustdespite Allegri often relying on him to replace or support Vlahovic.
“The Juventus shirt”, said the Livorno coach in a famous press conference, “weighs much more than any other in Serie A. Losing a ball or missing a goal here is not like doing it elsewhere”. This could explain both Kean’s problems and his purple rebirth. The many criticisms received in Turin did not help him express a talent about which no one has ever had any doubts. At just 24 years old, Moise wore the black and white shirt, that of Paris Saint-Germain, with excellent results, and emigrated to the Premier League to the tune of millions, without however establishing himself at Everton.
In Florence Kean found an ambitious environment that thrives on football, but without the expectations and pressures of the big clubs. Fiorentina, after two consecutive Conference League finals, dreams of making the big leap and in the summer relied on an emerging coach who has already accumulated experience in Serie A: Raffaele Palladino. The former Monza player, after a difficult start to the season, has created a tailor-made outfit to take advantage of his striker’s depth attack and explosiveness on the pitch, also capable of scoring goals as an area predator like against Hellas . In short, Kean’s rebirth is the result of work and trust, which Luciano Spalletti now hopes to enjoy too.