As we head into the final 48 hours of MooseWatch, some good news has emerged: Moise Kean has rejected Al-Hilal’s offer (reportedly a €20 million annual salary, which is just obscene). It sounds like the striker has prioritized staying in Europe, especially after Gianluca Gravina basically exiled Mateo Retegui from the Italian national team for the World Cup after the Atalanta man took the money from Al-Nassr.
While the opportunity for generational wealth can be tough to snub, the clout of playing
in the World Cup remains even greater. With the Saudi sirens silenced, the only realistic suitors for Kean at this point are European megaclubs offering rotational roles. The jump in prestige and salary could be tempting, but Fiorentina has built its attack around Kean in a way that will bring out his best heading into the next summer, giving him his best chance to stick as the starting striker for the Azzurri.
This is the mercato and we can’t rule out something silly, of course. These things happen really fast sometimes, but there aren’t any great landing spots aside from Manchester United, which could offer a very good tactical fit and has been “keeping tabs” on him for quite some time. Given Man U’s track record with strikers over the past decade or so, I don’t think Kean would take that risk in a World Cup year. Napoli, meanwhile, is embroiled with Udinese in negotiations for Lorenzo Lucca.
Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and the host of other clubs “linked” to a move in the past months haven’t made a peep. Kean himself has been out of the spotlight completely, which seems like a calculated move for a guy who loves the spotlight as only Serie A’s finest heel could. Combine those factors with the news that he’s renewed the lease on his home and it’s easy to think that he’s ready to stay.
As previously mentioned, Daniele Pradè and the Viola brain trust aren’t wasting time, scheduling a meeting later this week to discuss a contract extension that will pay Kean €4.5 million annually. Fiorentina might weather this storm just fine. It hasn’t been nearly as wild as I’d expected. I like that.
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