Fiorentina Sign Up Toni Replacement

By: Martha | May 1st, 2007

Mere hours after publicly making it sound as if he was rethinking his resolution to leave Livorno at the at the end of the season (and being linked with Inter), Cristiano Lucarelli has reportedly agreed to a deal that will find him playing for Fiorentina come August. Well! Alrightly then. And: Woo hoo!

Lucarelli, in addition to being opinionated and vaguely iconic, is also the second-leading goal scorer in Serie A, and has been regularly finding the back of the net for years: In his 142 appearances for Livorno (not all in Serie A), he’s scored an impressive 89 times, and shows no signs of slowing down as he gets older. When the season starts next fall, he’ll be an old man of 31 — about two years older than the (presumably) departing Toni — but will be positively raging with desire to succeed after leaving his beloved Livorno; it seems unlikely he’ll be slowed by the years.

In addition to simply bringing goals, Lucarelli will also add some much-needed toughness to the Viola front line (the necessity for which tmc mentioned in the comments yesterday), and the thought of him pairing up with Mutu and Pazzini is exciting indeed. Plus, it’s always nice to have a leftist in the team, right? There’s far too little politics on the pitch these days.

And, speaking of Lucarelli, there’s a write-up of his appearance at UCL (written by someone clearly not into football) at Londonist. If this Fiorentina story is true, it’s interesting that as recently as last weekend he was making it sound as if, were he to leave Livorno, Inter were the favorites for his services. Either he was being super-cagy, or the Viola deal happened out of nowhere.

Edit: I’m still mid-travels, but as Lisa and tmc pointed out in the comments, Lucarelli is denying ever saying he was joining the Viola. Make of that what you will — me, I like to think he had a few beers after his presentation in London, said more than he should have, and is now covering his tracks. Just because the thought of him playing for Fiorentina makes me happy.

Note: I’m on a plane today, so postings will be few and far between. (Trust me, I’d much rather be writing about football than traveling.)

Category: Fiorentina, Rumors & News, Serie A

Tags: Cristiano Lucarelli, Fiorentina, Livorno, Luca Toni, Rumors -amp; News, Serie A

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• Nico |  May 1st, 2007 at 4:06 am

  
  
  

  That’s great news, the man is a legend. Like you said he just keeps getting better and better as he gets older. It’s amazing! Do you know where Toni will be headed?

  Posted from United States

  

• Lisa |  May 1st, 2007 at 4:52 am

  
  
  

  As awesome as this rumor was, it’s already been shot down by the man himself. (c4 are also reporting the denial.)

  Posted from United Kingdom

  

• tmc |  May 1st, 2007 at 6:43 am

  
  
  

  Wow. The Livorno-Fiorentina matches are already quite contentious due to the proximity (both cities are in Tuscany). I’m sure Livorno supporters will be less than thrilled if this happens. As far as signings go, Lucarelli is a proven leader and scorer in Serie A, so it sounds like he will bring experience and toughness to the front line at Fiorentina. It will be interesting to see how he fits in, but this seems like a wise acquisition.

  Also, in terms of the political aspect of Lucarelli, Florence is known as a left-leaning city as well, though not quite so much as Livorno. I have no idea how much this did or didn’t play into Lucarelli’s decision, but possibly he was able to make a compromise with himself. Fiorentina has always resided on the outside of the big clubs in Italy, certainly behind Milan, Juve and Inter. Also, probably behind Lazio and Roma as well. This may be changing, but it sounds like Lucarelli has had enough with the Livorno experience, based on his recent comments and the account of his appearance at UCL yesterday.

  Posted from United States

  

• tmc |  May 1st, 2007 at 6:44 am

  
  
  

  http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/may1i.html

  Of course, after all that, he’s already denied it (even if he is going to go to Fiorentina he probably has to say this publicly at this point anyway).

  Posted from United States

  

• Nico |  May 1st, 2007 at 7:25 am

  
  
  

  Haha yeah I was about to say wait a minute, because I read he might end up in England! http://www.eurosport.com/football/serie-a/2006-2007/sport_sto1167333.shtml

  Posted from United States

  

• Nico |  May 1st, 2007 at 7:27 am

  
  
  

  Can I not delete my own posts? Anyway, I meant to post this link instead: http://www.eurosport.com/football/sport_sto1167310.shtml

  Posted from United States

  

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