Serie A hotshot Dusan Vlahovic has the ability to thrive at Premier League giants Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, former Fiorentina director Pantaleo Corvino has told Tuttosport.
With more drama at the Stadio Artemio Franchi than an EastEnders Christmas special right now, the future of perhaps the most exciting young talent in the whole of Italy has gone under the radar during the past couple of days.
But if Vlahovic was already uncertain over whether to sign a new contract with La Viola, the Gennaro Gattuso saga will have done little to convince the 21-year-old Serbia international he’s in the right place to continue his development.
The self-professed ‘new Zlatan Ibrahimovic’, who has also been compared on numerous occasions to Erling Haaland, Vlahovic scored 21 goals in 37 games for an underachieving Fiorentina side in 2020/21.
And while the Italian giants are desperate to keep him around, the man who brought Vlahovic to Florence four years ago believes the silky striker is more than ready for a big-money switch.
Could Serie A star Vlahovic join Tottenham or Liverpool?
“Quality has no age. Now, (Vlahovic) could play as a centre-forward for Juventus, Liverpool or Tottenham,” Corvino says of a man who is expected to cost somewhere in the region of £40 million this summer.
“I scared (Fiorentina) when, in 2017, I paid €1.5 million to Partizan (Belgrade).
“I admit, after signing him, I was scared. I am convinced Vlahovic’s father also noticed that and told me: ‘Director, I’m sure you are bringing the new (Gabriel) Batistuta to Florence.’
“I replied: ‘Well, I was convinced, instead, that I had brought a new Luca Toni!’”
Four years on, Vlahovic is scoring goals regularly enough to justify those comparisons with a pair of Fiorentina legends, let alone Ibrahimovic and Haaland.
Last week, Tuttosport reported former Juventus director Fabio Paratici hopes to bring Vlahovic to his new employer, Tottenham, this summer.
It’s surely no coincidence the striker, physical yet elegant, sturdy yet silky, shares a lot of stylistic similarities with a certain Harry Kane.
Liverpool were also reported to be in advanced talks in April, via Inside Football, while Arsenal have been linked too.
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