Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee Patrick Cutrone is free to leave Fiorentina if he is unhappy about his lack of game-time, coach Cesare Prandelli has told Football Italia.
With La Viola once again underachieving on the pitch and making big changes off it, controversy surrounding the future of a Wolves-owned striker is quickly becoming another flashpoint Fiorentina can do without.
A clause in Cutrone’s contract means the Florence-based outfit must sign him permanently for a fee of £16 million once he makes his 26th start for the club.
As it stands, the 22-year-old is well short of that tally and, with pretty much all his appearances coming from the bench these days, it seems that Fiorentina are hoping to have their cake and eat it by keeping him around without needing to stump up that £16 million fee.
Cutrone made yet another cameo appearance in Sunday’s defeat to table-toppers AC Milan, playing the final 22 minutes as Fiorentina slipped to 17th in the table.
The striker’s agent was outspoken in his criticism of the club last week, insisting that his client had been unfairly dealt with at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
And it hasn’t taken long for Prandelli to respond.
“He belongs to Fiorentina,” said the former Italy and Valencia coach, albeit while praising Cutrone’s work rate and commitment to the cause.
“At this moment, on a technical level, I made a different choice (on who should start). I have never excluded anyone, but if a player is not happy to stay at Fiorentina can leave.”
Cutrone was one of the hottest young forwards in Europe when he joined Wolves in a £19 million deal last year.
Fortunately, at the age of 22, there is plenty of time for the one-time Rossoneri starlet to rediscover the form that saw him score 18 goals during a superb breakthrough season at Milan in 2017/18.
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