Fresh off a hiding at the hands of newly-promoted Frosinone, Fiorentina fans needed some good news. Perhaps they’ve gotten it now that the club’s announced the signing of Swedish winger Alieu Njie from Torino. Nicolò Schira reports that the total fee is €20 million and that the Granata will keep a 12% sell-on fee, which feels specific enough to be true.
Njie is just 21 but he’s been in the Torino academy for 6 years, rising through the youth
ranks before debuting aged 19 against Hellas Verona. He scored his first professional goal a month later against Como and seemed to be off and running for Paolo Vanoli, appearing in 16 of 19 off the bench, before a broken ankle sidelined him for the remainder of the season. Marco Baroni didn’t trust him the next year and barely played him, but Roberto D’Aversa brought him back from exile towards the end of the season. Even so, he seemed well outside the circle of trust at Torino despite his tender years and has been linked to an exit for months.
It’s easy to see why people are excited about Njie. He’s already good physically and will only improve as he grows into his body. He’s a dribbler with a bag of tricks, one who’ll try audacious moves and pull them off often enough. Combine that with his pace and you’ve got the sort of player who can beat their marker and make something happen, which is a quality Fabio Paratici seems to prize above all others in a winger. Njie, by the way, isn’t just a winger. With Torino, he often played as part of a front two, highlighting some positional versatility.
That’s a glowing review of a young guy with just 2 senior campaigns under his belt, but there are also flaws in his game. The main one is end product: the most goals Njie’s ever scored in a season is 3, which he accomplished twice with the Primavera while playing 28+ games. In Serie A, he’s tallied 2 goals and an assist across 2 seasons. Despite his speed, he’s also a ball-to-feet type player rather than one who stretches opponents by running over the top. That’s not a bad quality in itself but with Franco Mastantuono and Mateo Pellegrino both tending to move towards play, that could lead to a muddle in the middle.
Fabio Grosso may see Njie as a bench option but the youngster will start plenty of games, especially if Albert Guðmundsson shuffles off to Lazio. For €20 million, a team of Fiorentina’s size needs immediate production, especially given the start to the season the club’s suffered. After failing to score through the first 2 weeks, the Viola need someone to provide regular scoring. Up to now, that hasn’t been part of Njie’s game. Perhaps greater trust from his coach and a more regular job are the ingredients he needs to blossom, but this feels like a risky move for a club approaching the tipping point into toxicity already.
Välkommen, Alieu, och lycka till.
