When Aston Villa signed two of the most exciting young talents in Serie A, the expectation was that they would both have a part to play under Unai Emery from the off.
Instad, the former Juventus duo of Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea would quickly pack their bags again before heading out on loan.
Iling-Junior will spend 2024/25 at Bologna. Barrenechea, meanwhile, completed a protracted switch to Valencia in August.
Now, both players could still have a big future at Aston Villa. Perhaps the Midland giants felt that they would be better off honing their talents away from Villa Park initially, with Bologna and Valencia offering the kind of regular first-team football that may have been beyond them in a stacked claret-and-blue squad.
But, as far as Fiorentina are concerned, the sight of Iling-Junior and Barrenechea arriving and then departing again only a few weeks later – albeit on a purely temporary basis – was all the proof they needed to encourage Michael Kayode to stay put at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur like Michael Kayode
HITC reported in June that Aston Villa had opened talks with Kayode. Villa allegedly then submitted an opening bid of around £12 million, per Alfredo Pedulla.
Tottenham Hotspur are also big admirers of the Italy Under 21 international, having sold Emerson Royal to AC Milan without a replacement being secured.
But Daniele Prade, Fiorentina’s sporting director, insists that the club’s bosses never had any interest in letting Kayode go after just one breakout season in Serie A.
“He doesn’t even know it but he’s had offers. More than one,” Prade tells Tuttomercatoweb, highlighting the situations that faced both Iling-Junior and Barrenechea.
“If you ask me, I personally even thought about selling him. But the president would never have done it and I didn’t even have the courage to ask him.
“He’s also an exceptional guy who has significant margins (for improvement), and I don’t think he was ready for such a big step now,” adds the Viola chief, while confirms Fiorentina lost out to Everton for Orel Mangala.
“Look at Iling Junior and Barrenechea, who went to the Premier League and then elsewhere after 40 days.”
Serie A starlet is staying at Fiorentina
Prade confirms that an unnamed ‘top club’ made an approach for Kayode, while admitting that Fiorentna’s prized asset has admirers in the Premier League.
A potential long-term replacement for Matty Cash – the Aston Villa ace also caught the eye of Milan before Emerson’s arrival at San Siro – 20-year-old Kayode was a revelation in his first few months for the Viola.
HITC understands that Fiorentina value Kayode at £25 million. Double the fee Aston Villa reportedly offered before the window closed in August.
Labelled ‘extraordinary’ and an ‘incredible’ talent after marking the 2023 Serie A Player of the Year Khvicha Kvaratskhelia out of the game during Fiorentina’s 3-1 win at Napoli back in October, Kayode ticks plenty of boxes especially for Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.
Postecoglou likes full-backs capable of both holding the width on the touchline while also drifting into midfield to create overloads. The highly-intelligent, tactically-flexible Kayode has performed both roles excellently for Fiorentina.
The post 'He's exceptional': Director explains why Aston Villa bid failed for £25m Tottenham target appeared first on HITC.
from HITC https://ift.tt/ONjBGir
No comments: