You only have to look at Albian Ajeti’s time at West Ham United to realise that a prolific goalscoring record in Switzerland is not easily translated in the Premier League.
Ajeti arrived at the London Stadium in the summer of 2019 as the hottest striker in Swiss football; A Golden Boot winner, and a league champion to boot. By the time he upped sticks and headed north of the border with Celtic just one year later, he didn’t even have a single goal to show for 12 West Ham appearances.
At least Arthur Cabral will not go down in Fiorentina’s history as a ‘goal-less goal-scorer’. The former Brazil U23 international has found the net in the iconic deep purple of La Viola.
But three goals in 23 games is not exactly the hit-rate Fiorentina would have been hoping for when they paid £14 million to sign the former Basel talisman as a replacement for the outstanding Dusan Vlahovic during the January transfer window.
Newcastle United wanted Fiorentina striker Arthur Cabral
“I don’t like Cabral very much,” says former Fiorentina midfielder Andrea Orlandini, speaking to Radio Firenze Viola. “I would like to know who saw Cabral to spend 15 million euros on him.”
Fiorentina director Daniele Prade, meanwhile, is having to answer some rather probing questions. Specifically, about why Cabral was chosen to succeed the free-scoring Vlahovic at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
“With Cabral, there were some problems of acclimatisation,” the straight-talking Prade responds; admitting that his £14 million man has struggled to live up to expectations. “We are waiting for him (to shine). He trains great and we are also hoping for him to find his spark.”
It certainly like lightyears ago that Cabral was attracting interest from some of Europe’s biggest and most ambitious football clubs; from Barcelona to Arsenal, via Newcastle United.
“Newcastle contacted me for a possible deal,” Cabral’s agent, Luis Portela, said following the close of the January window. “And we did some video talks (with Newcastle).”
This is not to say there is no such thing as value in Swiss football. Mo Salah, Granit Xhaka, Manuel Akanji, Ivan Rakitic, Denis Zakaria, Matheus Cunha, Yann Sommer and more are proof of that. But if Arthur Cabral was hoping to succeed where Ajeti failed, a tally of three goals in 23 games has done little to stem the flow of tears from those still mourning Vlahovic’s departure on the streets of Florence.
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