Fiorentina should sell Nicolas Gonzalez ‘immediately’ if Premier League duo Newcastle United or Leicester City are willing to meet the forward’s £35 million price-tag, World Cup winner Daniel Bertoni tells Tuttomercatoweb.
A £15 million profit on a player who’s started just two Serie A games all season due to a series of injury issues? You can certainly see where Bertoni is coming from, Marca reporting that Newcastle and Leicester have submitted bids for the former Stuttgart wideman.
Fiorentina remain insistent that Gonzalez will be going nowhere this month but actions, as they say, speak louder than words. If Saudi-backed Newcastle or relegation-threatened Leicester are willing to stump up £35 million for the silky Argentina international, then former Fiorentina favourite Bertoni would waste no time in driving Gonzalez to the nearest airport.
“I’d sell him immediately. £35 million is a lot of money,” says Bertoni, a World Cup winner with Argentina in 1978.
“Then, with that money, I’d get a centre-forward. Julian Alvarez could have been here, but then he went to Manchester City. Nico scored few goals; above all from penalties. For these numbers, Fiorentina can let him leave.”
Newcastle United and Leicester City are keen on Fiorentina’s Nicolas Gonzalez
A left-footed right winger who could potentially fulfil something of a Riyad Mahrez-type role at Leicester; Gonzalez scored eight goals and set up nine more during a promising debut season in Italy during 2021/22. Three of those eight goals, however, came from the penalty spot.
Marca, meanwhile, believe that Gonzalez’s rather worrying injury record is a nagging concern biting away the back of Newcastle and Leicester minds. Since leaving the Bundesliga for Florence, he’s missed 19 games due to a variety of fitness issues. What’s more, Gonzalez has not started more than 30 league games in a single campaign.
“I can confirm both players (Gonzalez and the Liverpool-linked Sofyan Amrabat) are not for sale. End of story. I am confirming it tonight; Amrabat and Gonzalez are not for sale,” Fiorentina director Joe Barone tells DAZN.
“Gonzalez is recovering (from injury). He’s training well, scored in the last match. We are happy with his progress, and are happy with the whole team.”
“Nico Gonzalez; Does he stay? I think yes,” adds La Viola president Rocco Commisso. “The offers? It means that our players are worth it, but we must see what we (decide to) do.”
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