More Details on Toni (Kind Of)
By: Martha | April 30th, 2007
In La Gazetta dello Sport yesterday, there was a roundup of the facts (and alleged facts) as we know them with regard to Luca Toni and his possible/probable move to Bayern Munich. The numbers are the same as were reported this weekend: €18 million to Fiorentina and a five year deal at €5.5 million per — a Bundesliga record — for Toni himself, and it’s rumored the striker was even in Germany late last week for a medical. When it comes to official statements, both clubs are replete with denials, but more the “We won’t talk until something’s official” kind than the “Oh please, as if we’d sell/buy him. Fools!”
The whole thing still smells odd to me, particularly given Toni’s frequent insistence that it’s Champions League or bust for him, and the fact that, barring a miracle, Bayern won’t qualify. Additionally, as I’ve said before, it would both surprise and impress me if a man who has had such success in Italy would forgo a move to the highest level at home — specifically to Juve, Milan (though they’ve apparently removed themselves from the discussion — or, as Google translate would say, “raised flag white woman”) or Inter — in favor of a new team in a new league, where success is in no way guaranteed. My own clearly foolish doubts aside, however, it’s increasingly likely this is true, and that we’ll see Lucagol plying his trade abroad next season, replace at Fiorentina by a shorter, younger version of himself: Another long-hair, periodically whiny striker.
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This will be very interesting to watch to its conclusion, as a big Viola fan, I’ve been resigned to Luca leaving for awhile now. The only worry I have is that while Fiorentina have some great options up front for the future, with Mutu, Reginaldo, Pazzini and Lupoli on the way in from Arsenal, Toni’s size and physical play make him unique. A lot of his goals were due to his size (not just getting to balls in the air, mind you), and this was a great attacking option for the team.
Fiorentina have an excellent goal differential this year, but this is due more to having given up the 3rd fewest goals in Serie A than scoring prowess. I fear that the loss of Toni limits the attacking options for the Viola, who play a beautiful free flowing style with great buildup, but sometimes need to score some ugly goals to pull out victories. I don’t see that coming regularly from anyone expected to be a contributing striker for them next year. I worry that this means more ties instead of 1-0 or 2-1 victories. But you never know what 18 million Euros could get you, but for Fiorentina’s ambitions next year (challenging for the scudetto/champions league qualification and the UEFA cup) I’d like to have options of scoring goals both with power and with pace.
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Great comment, tmc — thanks. I actually was pleased by the Lazio match because they didn’t allow Fiorentina to play their customary flowing, creative style, and yet the Viola still got the job done. To me, that match spoke volumes about the future of this team, and what they’re truly capable of.
I’m also a MASSIVE Reginaldo fan, and would love to see what we could do with a regular spot over a whole season.
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Whether Toni goes or not, I think you can rest easy that the Viola commitment to attacking play continues. With Jorgensen, Montolivo, Reginaldo, Pazzini, Mutu, Pasqual and don’t forget Santana in the squad I don’t think it could be any other way.
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