Report: Fiorentina working on Ernest Poku purchase
· Yahoo Sports
Despite doing a fair amount of work early in the summer, Fabio Paratici’s got plenty left on his plate before the transfer window closes. His most important task (assuming Moise Kean stays, which is hardly a certainty) is finding a winger, preferably one who can play on the left and also operate through the middle in Fabio Grosso’s 4-4-2ish setup. Accordingtovarioussources, the Viola DS has found his man: Bayer Leverkusen’s Ernest Poku.
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The 22-year-old was born in Hamburg but moved to the Netherlands as a kid, where he grew up with FC Amsterdam before switching to AZ in 2019 and working his way through the ranks, tearing up the youth levels and establishing himself in the first team aged 19. Leverkusen came in with a €10 million offer last summer and Poku handled the step up with aplomb, scoring 5 goals and adding 5 assists in his first Bundesliga campaign.
The scouting report on Poku is fairly simple: he’s rapid. He’s not the most technical dribbler in tight spaces. He’s not the sort to split defenses apart with pinpoint passes. His off-ball movement comes and goes. He’s not the most consistent finisher. But my goodness can he move. He’s a bit deceptive, too, in that he doesn’t look like he’s accelerating that much but he consistently dusts fullbacks from a standstill, creating transitional moments even against set defenses. As my high school coach routinely explained, “You can’t teach speed.” He’s quite two-footed, too, which is fun.
His fit in Fabio Grosso’s Florence would be interesting. Poku seems to prefer getting the ball to his feet, sizing up his defender, and then exploding into space rather than using his pace to meet balls in behind. That could disrupt the fascinating dynamics that Grosso’s fostered, particularly with Arthur Atta and Cher Ndour providing those bursts in behind to support Kean, balancing Mastantuono and Guðmundsson’s tendencies to move towards the ball. That Paratici and Grosso want to add a 1-v-1 monster to the wing shows that the current system doesn’t match the final vision, but it does give us an idea of how the brain trust imagines a fully operational Fiorentina.
Having just signed Poku, die Schwarzroten aren’t under any pressure to sell. Perhaps Arsenal’s interest in defender Jarrel Quansah will factor into the financial decision; if Bayer cashes in for €65+ million, it’ll have even less reason to move on from another starter. Nobody’s confirmed how much Paratici’s offered for Poku yet but I’d guess it’s somewhere in the €30 million range. On the plus side, FiorentinaNews reports that the player’s open to the move.
If Poku maintains last year’s form and rounds out his game, he could become a top-notch winger for years to come. He’s already a regular for the Netherlands U21s and could be in line to make the Euro 2028 squad. He’d also be the first Dutch player to make a senior appearance for the Viola since Fightin’ Andrè Roosenburg in 1953, which feels impossible. He’s rough around the edges and would be awfully expensive but has a better chance than most to become a genuine star.