Fiorentina And Juventus Feud (4): Transfer Business Honeymoon Marred By Failed Move For Berbatov

Dimitar Berbatov (Instagram @berbo9)

JAKARTA - Unlike in the fourth part of this article, where Fiorentina fans consider Fabrizio Ravanelli's involvement with Juventus a 'big sin' and the striker does not deserve to move to Fiorentina, in the era of Diego Della Valle's president, the transfer of players from I Viola to Juventus or vice versa no longer illegal.

Fiorentina was declared bankrupt and had to start their work in Serie C2 in the 2002/2003 season. The club was then taken over by a shoe entrepreneur and entrepreneur in the leather sector, Diego Della Valle.

In recruiting players, the president never looked at the background of the club. He looks more at the quality and youth of his target player in order to speak more in the Serie A competition.

Evidently, until the last season of Cesare Prandelli's coaching era, 2009/2010, the results were quite satisfactory. Fiorentina are respected in the Serie A League and Champions League.

We can see, Adrian Mutu, Manuele Blasi, Enzo Marescha, Fabrizio Miccoli, Marco Marchioni, Cristiano Zanetti, Sergio Almiron, Christian Vieri, Amauri Carvalho and even coach Cesare Prandelli is a Fiorentini who has a past Juventus.

On the other hand, Giorgio Chiellini, Valeri Bojinov, Emiliano Moretti, Felipe Melo and Luca Toni are the former I Viola players who crossed to La Vecchia Signora.

Although Della Valle is more lenient in transfer policy, that does not mean that hostilities have cooled down. For example, Luca Toni (who defected to Juventus in the middle of the 2011/2012 season), although he has fond memories of the I Viola, he did not hesitate to say he would celebrate a goal if he managed to score against Fiorentina when the two teams met in the 33rd week at the Artemio Franchi.

“I had two great seasons at Fiorentina. But if I score against them then I will celebrate because celebrating is not disrespecting your former fans," Toni said as quoted by Football Italia.

Although Toni's intentions were ultimately not realized because the match which took place on April 17, 2011 ended in a goalless draw and Toni only played for 18 minutes before the match ended as a substitute for Alessandro Matri, his words still angered the Fiorentina fans.

Luckily, the striker who led Italy to win the 2006 World Cup again wore a purple costume in the 2012/2013 season on a free transfer and gave an open statement of his love for Fiorentina.

"I'm happy to be back home (Fiorentina). A lot has changed in this city, but I don't feel like I've been gone for six years. When the offer came, I immediately accepted. It's not easy coming to a city where I've contributed a lot, but I'm happy and ready to take action,” said Toni.

"I didn't think about the details of the contract at all, I just wanted to play football. When I left Juventus it meant that something was wrong. Antonio Conte is a great coach, at first I was in the big plans of the team but things changed and I made the decision to leave. Then I had an adventure in the United Arab Emirates, unfortunately the style of football there was far from expected. I still have the passion to play and do well," he concluded.

It is because of things like Toni (crossing) that the 'Degobbizzazione' ritual is not simply removed. And Marco Marchioni, a player who moved to Florence in the 2009/2010 season is another player who undergoes this ritual. He was even visited directly by a group of militant fans named “Gruppo Storico” after undergoing a training session.

Apart from undergoing the 'Degobbizzazione' ritual, Marchioni was also forced to promise to celebrate his first goal by running towards the Curva Fiesole as proof of his devotion to Fiorentina.

Apart from Toni and Marchioni, Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo and Argentina's Sergio Almiron also gave open statements regarding their moves. Melo, who crossed to the Bianconeri in the 2009/2010 season, thanked and apologized to the Fiorentina fans. Meanwhile, Almiron, who joined the Purple Squad one season earlier, publicly expressed his disappointment with the club that dumped him, Juventus.

“I thank the I Viola fans for what they have given so far. They will always be in my heart. I'm sorry if now there are some, if not many, fans who are angry with me. But this is the path I must take. This move has a positive side for Fiorentina because they can invest the proceeds from my sale," Melo told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"I'm here to prove Juventus wrong. I really am more prepared and I want to prove my best here. I better not talk about it (Juve) anymore. Claudio Ranieri (Juve coach at the time) was one of the people who agreed to a contract but then I was not given a place in his team, "Almiron explained.

However, the harmonious transfer honeymoon between Fiorentina and Juventus during the Della Valle regime had to end at the start of the 2012/2013 season. Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov's planned move to Fiorentina has almost certainly been undermined by the Bianconeri.

Berbatov, who was scheduled to come to Florence for a medical and signed a contract with I Viola towards the close of the transfer window, never appeared and was reportedly more accepting of Juventus' offer. A number of sources stated, Juve dared to pay Berbatov higher than the I Viola, which amounted to 1 million euros a season plus the opportunity to play in the Champions League. Frankly, I Viola did not accept the behavior of Juventus.

“Perhaps some people think: in order to get results, all things are valid. But Fiorentina don't think like that. I will never accept the attitude of the club and their president (Juventus)," said Della Valle.

"It's a normal thing to happen in the transfer market, especially in the last few days. We only approached Manchester United after the player rejected Fiorentina. There was an offer coming from Fulham, but he wanted to evaluate our proposal as well and immediately give certainty tonight, "said the Bianconeri general manager at the time, Beppe Marotta, as reported by Tribalfootball.

Although in the end both teams did not manage to get Berbatov because he preferred Fulham, Della Valle tried to ask for an explanation from Andrea Agnelli, as the number one person at Juve. However, the answers obtained were not satisfactory.

“We approached Berbatov when it was confirmed that the player rejected Fiorentina. In this case Fulham also came with an offer for Berbatov, “Agnelli defended.

"He wants to stay in the Premier League. He didn't come to Florence because he went to Munich to meet his wife," continued Marotta regarding Berbatov's attitude.

Regarding Berbatov, Fiorentina explicitly stated that the striker who won the Premier League's top scorer in the 2010/2011 season was an unprofessional person and did not deserve to wear Fiorentina's oversized costume.

"We are happy that he did not join Fiorentina. He does not deserve to be in our city and does not deserve to wear our jersey," read a statement on Fiorentina's official website published by Tribalfootball.

I Viola even asked for compensation to Berbatov and his agent regarding the plane tickets that had been booked and sent directly on their behalf for the flight from Manchester to Florence.

"I'm glad he didn't come. We will ask his agent to pay a hundred percent compensation for the plane tickets we ordered," said Fiorentina's sporting director, Daniele Prade, told Radio Blu.

The war is not over. The impact even spread to other players. Fiorentina made a special contract for one of its star players Stevan Jovetic. In the contract there is an "anti-Juventus" clause that prevents the Montenegrin player from moving to Juventus.

Previously, Fiorentina and Juventus had discussed the transfer of the number eight back in the 2012/2013 transfer market. However, the stronghold of I Gigliati still rejected the offer of 25 million euros (approximately Rp. 306 billion) that was offered by La Vecchia Signora.

Fiorentina even refused if Juventus offered up to 40 million euros (around Rp 490 billion) even for Jovetic. Previous news claimed Fiorentina would only sell Jojo to Manchester City which was then realized at the end of the 2012/2013 season.

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