Fiorentina, Montella: "I have returned to help start a new cycle at the club.."

Vincenzo Montella has returned to Fiorentina. After his sacking in 2015 from La Viola after a three-year tenure in charge, he had a brief one-year stint at Sampdoria before switching to manage Milan in 2016; he unfortunately lasted just over a season with the Rossoneri. Most recently, he was in charge of Sevilla in Spain for a spell that lasted less than six months from December to April of last season. First and foremost, I thank the club, the Della Valle family and Mario Cognigni for this act of esteem; I spoke with the director Pantaleo Corvino and Diego Della Valle. I, unfortunately, did not speak with Andrea because he was flying to China. There is a little less enthusiasm than before with the club, we will have to rebuild that. But I return here with great pleasure.

A contract until 2021, Montella is a solution for the future. What convinced me to come back? I was convinced to talk about football for three hours with the club. My first spell with Fiorentina was different,
a cycle had ended and it was right to say goodbye to each other. It's true, it ended in a stormy way, but then we have made-up after talking amongst ourselves. If we are all united, from ownership to the club, we will always succeed. The fans are disappointed and I understand that, but a cycle has ended and now we have to start again.

This Sunday, Montella will have his first challenge as Fiorentina take on Bologna. The first contact was very quick; the last 48 hours have been very busy. We needed a moment of adaptation; from tomorrow we start with players who are determined and who look forward with strength and conviction. Beyond the technical aspect, that I know well having seen Fiorentina many times, i'm interested in the energy and the desire to do well amongst the players. We must think about positive things and not negative ones, so there is a particular year that can become historic for Fiorentina.