Fiorentina statement

Gringo180

"ACF Fiorentina announces that it missed the acquisition of the player Dimitar Berbatov after we had reached an agreement with Manchester United & a verbal understanding with the player on his contract.

During today, the English club had granted him written permission to travel to Florence for medical & sign a contract. The player - accompanied by his agent - embarked on a flight to Florence with tickets paid for by the club.

But the player never arrived in Florence because of reckless & arrogant actions of other clubs which have nothing to do with the values of honesty, fair play & sporting ethics which lie beyond the boundaries of loyalty.

As for the player - notwithstanding his characteristics & technical merit - at this point we are happy that he did not come to Fiorentina as he is not worthy of our city, our shirt and the values it represents."

Love it

Francie Barrett

I don't get it. Did United prevent him from going?

SM01

I *think* their ire is directed at Juve who were also interested in the player and United aren't implicated. I thought it wasn't an infrequent occurance that clubs gazump other clubs so I'm a tiny bit surprised but slightly amused at their statement.

Mars Bar

Francie Barrett wrote: »

I don't get it. Did United prevent him from going?

No. Berbatov was getting a connecting flight to Florence from Munich but decided to go to Juventus so he never arrived in Florence. Fiorentina paid for the flights.

And apparently he is joining Fulham!

v3ttel

Francie Barrett wrote: »

I don't get it. Did United prevent him from going?

No. United accepted the bid and allowed him to travel.

Fiorentina's gripe seems to be with Juve and Berbatov, not United.

Juventus made a bid at the last minute, so he didn't go to Florence. Berba seemingly preferred a move to Juventus, but decided he didn't want to unsettle his family, and he'd prefer to stay in England (according to a statement made by Juve).

GavRedKing

If it is true its poor form from Berbatov but if Fulham are willing to pay him similar money to Fiorentina then why up root your family to another country when you can travel down the road to London and stay in the EPL.

Gringo180

GavRedKing wrote: »

If it is true its poor form from Berbatov but if Fulham are willing to pay him similar money to Fiorentina then why up root your family to another country when you can travel down the road to London and stay in the EPL.

It definately is poor form from Berbatov the least he could of done is alerted the club that he wouldnt be arriving in Florence and maybe reinburst them for the cost of the flights, although I somehow cant see that happening :rolleyes:

Pj!

If for some reason he doesn't agree with Fulham there are going to be some pretty pissed off people at Old Trafford.

tinofapples

And apparently Fergie isn't keen on dealing with Juve following their capture of Paul Pogba earlier this summer.

Jason Todd

Bad form considering he was on a flight paid for by Fiorentina, but I thought this kind of thing happens all the time.

mitosis

Fiorentina have a point re the character of the player who does something like this. It would have been hilarious to see him at Juventus with Vucinic - two lazy broody types leading the line

GavRedKing

Gringo180 wrote: »

It definately is poor form from Berbatov the least he could of done is alerted the club that he wouldnt be arriving in Florence and maybe reinburst them for the cost of the flights, although I somehow cant see that happening :rolleyes:

Cost of flights to Florence are hardly going to bankrupt the club though are they?

Thers not much honesty in football anyway and its not a reflection on Berbatov but if any player had been given a similar situation then the outcome would be the same the majority of the time I reckon.

v3ttel

Pj! wrote: »

If for some reason he doesn't agree with Fulham there are going to be some pretty pissed off people at Old Trafford.

Not least of all, Berbatov himself.

tinofapples wrote: »

And apparently Fergie isn't keen on dealing with Juve following their capture of Paul Pogba earlier this summer.

Do you have a genuine source or did you just jump to that conclusion yourself?

Seems odd that he talked to Juventus without the clubs approval then.

Gringo180

GavRedKing wrote: »

Cost of flights to Florence are hardly going to bankrupt the club though are they?

Of course not, but morally I think its the right thing to do.

Adamcp898

He kind of did a similar thing for his move to Manchester United albeit not in quite as dramatic circumstances. City had a bid accepted first but he arrived in Manchester to talk to United before permission to talk to them was granted allegedly.

homerjay2005

The offer that Fiorentina gave berba was really really poor.

strange set up though, pretty much exactly the same as his transfer to United. if he had agreed to join them, its bad form.

Still a very good player.

LuckyLloyd

Does anyone remember a few years back when Fiorentina were relegated a few divisions and Di Livio and Torrecilli I think it was stayed on with a huge pay cut to help them back up? That was classy stuff.

Roger Sterling

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Does anyone remember a few years back when Fiorentina were relegated a few divisions and Di Livio and Torrecilli I think it was stayed on with a huge pay cut to help them back up? That was classy stuff.

Moreno Toricelli. Now theres a blast from the past. Beast in his day.

Seaneh

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Does anyone remember a few years back when Fiorentina were relegated a few divisions and Di Livio and Torrecilli I think it was stayed on with a huge pay cut to help them back up? That was classy stuff.

Torrecilli refused to train for a while and left 4 months later though.

Di Livio stayed with them until they were propmted. Played half of a season in A and then retired. Fair play to him.

Gringo180

Classy stuff from Di Livio alright, thats something that would very rarely happen in todays game unfortunately :mad:

Neil3030

I'm sorry but that statement is completely unprofessional posturing on behalf of Fiorentina. Typical over-the-top Italian grandstanding to try gloss over their own shortcomings, namely, that they couldn't convince a player to come to their club.

Players change their mind at the last minute all the time; clubs get sniped by opposing bids; cost of transporting players is often a complete waste. What bloody planet do these clowns live on?

Gringo180

Neil3030 wrote: »

I'm sorry but that statement is completely unprofessional posturing on behalf of Fiorentina. Typical over-the-top Italian grandstanding to try gloss over their own shortcomings, namely, that they couldn't convince a player to come to their club.

Players change their mind at the last minute all the time; clubs get sniped by opposing bids; cost of transporting players is often a complete waste. What bloody planet do these clowns live on?

Do you not think its completely unprofessional what Berbatov did??

LuckyLloyd

Neil3030 wrote: »

I'm sorry but that statement is completely unprofessional posturing on behalf of Fiorentina. Typical over-the-top Italian grandstanding to try gloss over their own shortcomings, namely, that they couldn't convince a player to come to their club.

Players change their mind at the last minute all the time; clubs get sniped by opposing bids; cost of transporting players is often a complete waste. What bloody planet do these clowns live on?

Eh, if people are waiting at an airport for you to walk off a plane letting them know that you aren't on that plane would probably be the classy thing to do...

Seaneh

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Eh, if people are waiting at an airport for you to walk off a plane letting them know that you aren't on that plane would probably be the classy thing to do...

Especially when they have paid a couple of grand for two first class tickets for you and your agent.

dan1895

Gringo180 wrote: »

Classy stuff from Di Livio alright, thats something that would very rarely happen in todays game unfortunately :mad:

It wasn't that long ago. Del Piero and Buffon stayed on with Juve when they got demoted and Jim Crawford (legend) stayed on with Shels when it happened to them.

Neil3030

Of course Fiorentina would have a right to feel annoyed, but to go public like that is completely unprofessional and undignified, no matter what way you look at it - it's either a smokescreen to fans (most likely - oh look at all the effort we put in, it's not our fault we didn't sign the player) or it's just an impulsive ventilation of their frustration.

Also, have any of these details been confirmed by anyone other than Fiorentina?

LuckyLloyd

Neil3030 wrote: »

Of course Fiorentina would have a right to feel annoyed, but to go public like that is completely unprofessional and undignified, no matter what way you look at it - it's either a smokescreen to fans (most likely - oh look at all the effort we put in, it's not our fault we didn't sign the player) or it's just an impulsive ventilation of their frustration.

Also, have any of these details been confirmed by anyone other than Fiorentina?

Meh, honesty should be welcomed. It's a big 'you are a classless prick' to Dimatar Berbatov who, to be fair, appears to be a classless prick.

geeky

Neil3030 wrote: »

Of course Fiorentina would have a right to feel annoyed, but to go public like that is completely unprofessional and undignified, no matter what way you look at it - it's either a smokescreen to fans (most likely - oh look at all the effort we put in, it's not our fault we didn't sign the player) or it's just an impulsive ventilation of their frustration.

Also, have any of these details been confirmed by anyone other than Fiorentina?

Apparently there are photos (not vouching for them!)



I was told that the chairman himself was at the airport to meet him. Let's be honest, a man with that amount of money and power is not going to take such a humiliation well.

godtabh

Neil3030 wrote: »

I'm sorry but that statement is completely unprofessional posturing on behalf of Fiorentina. Typical over-the-top Italian grandstanding to try gloss over their own shortcomings, namely, that they couldn't convince a player to come to their club.

Players change their mind at the last minute all the time; clubs get sniped by opposing bids; cost of transporting players is often a complete waste. What bloody planet do these clowns live on?

He agreed to sign for them and was about to sign a contract. sounds like they were doing ok to get him to sign

Mr.Crinklewood

Berbatov didn't want to go to the hassle of changing his mobile phone provider, so he stayed in England.

Cienciano

Mr.Crinklewood wrote: »

Berbatov didn't want to go to the hassle of changing his mobile phone provider, so he stayed in England.

I heard there was no little electric golf car in the airport with the flashing light and annoying beep to take him through the terminal to arrivals, so he didn't bother going.

Neil3030

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Meh, honesty should be welcomed. It's a big 'you are a classless prick' to Dimatar Berbatov who, to be fair, appears to be a classless prick.

But this assumes they are reporting the events in an honest fashion.

I have far too much experience with Italian PR to take that statement at face value.

mitosis

According to Italian media today Berbatov phoned Fiorentina to try to revive the deal - while he was at Fulham awaiting his medical.

Quote from Juventus:

“Seeing what happened, perhaps it is better that he did not join us, as we are talking about an unreliable player.”

http://www.football-italia.net/24573/carrera-bendtner-berbatov-and-udinese

Red Crow

There was an obvious miscommunication somewhere and I love the way people are jabbing the knife at Berba. If he got a better offer and more money elsewhere then fair play and if I was a player and my agent does the negotiating, which all agents do btw, then it was the responsibility of the agent to let the club know I was going to discuss terms elsewhere.

No, what this is really about is a thinly veiled swipe at a former Manchester United player.

It's bemusing how sensitive people become all of a sudden.

osarusan

Eli Manning wrote: »

No, what this is really about is a thinly veiled swipe at a former Manchester United player.

It's bemusing how sensitive people become all of a sudden.

Fiorentina are taking a swipe at him because he's a Manchester United player?

Red Crow

osarusan wrote: »

Fiorentina are taking a swipe at him because he's a Manchester United player?

No. I'm talking about this forum.

ceegee

The story being told in the media seems at odds with the manner in which Berbatov had behaved while being frozen out at United - showed a lot of class in not striking out at SAF or the club. Wouldnt be at all sure we're hearing the full truth here

grenache

That Fiorentina statement is pretty much standard for Serie A sides. It's what i love about Italy, their crazy character and personality. Although i love English football, you'd never in a million years see that in the PL/Championship.

mitosis

Eli Manning wrote: »

It's bemusing how sensitive people become all of a sudden.

I agree, except I don't think it's so sudden, though I suppose in a way it is admirable that they would still blindly support a player who has left for another club (Fulham in this case).

Paco Rodriguez

I had heard Bendtner was linked with Milan but went to Juve.
If the same thing happened...thank you so much Juve.
Im glad Milan wont have to face Berba as well as Jovetic. What a pairing that would have been.

TheDoc

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Meh, honesty should be welcomed. It's a big 'you are a classless prick' to Dimatar Berbatov who, to be fair, appears to be a classless prick.