We’ve known this one was brewing for a minute but now it’s official: Josip Brekalo has joined recently-promoted Real Oviedo on a permanent deal after he and Fiorentina agreed to dissolve his contract. He’s already passed his medical and joined the Carbayones in Asturias. I haven’t found any information about his salary but, if I’m completely honest, I don’t care. I’m just glad he’s off the books.
Brekalo joined Fiorentina for a bargain €1.7 million fee in January 2023 after falling out of the rotation. He’s been loaned out the past couple of seasons, to Hajduk Split and Kasımpaşa, without ever really impressing, although that feels about right for the Croatian, considering that he produced a single goal across 29 appearances with the Viola.
I never really understood why the club took a flyer on Brekalo. Yeah, he was cheap, but he was cheap for a reason. His lack of athleticism meant that he simply couldn’t make space for himself at this level, and he wasn’t good enough technically to compensate: every game, it seemed, he received at least one simple pass that somehow clanged off his shin and rolled 5 yards away, ceding the ball in the dumbest possible way. In terms of impact, he was somewhere around José Callejón.
Brekalo is also a noted homophobe, having posted on social media about his disgust with Wolfsburg’s LGBTQ+ initiatives back in 2018 before walking back his comments by blaming a “ghost phone,” which makes him both a bigot and a coward. That, more than his €2 million annual salary, made me really dislike him. Getting him off the roster was a purely financial decision, of course, but it means I can finally like Fiorentina just a little bit more, and that’s worth celebrating.
His final gift to us, at least, is that somebody managed to put together a “highlights” comp of his time in Florence. Marvel at this labor of love.
