The rumor’s been rattling around for a few weeks and now we’ve got confirmation: Fiorentina has sent Pietro Comuzzo to Torino on loan. Per Nicolò Schira, there’s a €1 million initial fee and a €20 million option to make the move permanent next summer with a contract until 2031, although I can’t find anyone reporting the salary. It’s an underwhelming conclusion to the defender’s Viola career, which began 7 years ago when he joined the academy from Pordenone for €100,000 as a 14-year-old prospect.
I don’t like this move for a number of reasons. The most obvious is that Comuzzo’s a very good young player. Sure, he has some flaws, flaws that were amplified last season as the entire team collapsed around him. I’m not surprised he underperformed in those circumstances. Not many 2nd-year professionals can maintain a high standard as their teammates give up or crash out and Pietrone was no different. His brain seemed to shut off at the most inopportune moments, often when he allowed an opposing striker to find space in the box to meet a cross. He also needs to improve on the ball.
But c’mon, man. He was as bad in 2025-2026 as he was good in 2024-2025. Team context matters here. Raffaele Palladino did a fantastic job of ensuring Comuzzo’s job was as simple as possible, allowing him to focus on what he did well and avoid doing things he was bad at. Stefano Pioli and then Paolo Vanoli zeroed in on his weaknesses and benched him, sapping his confidence and leaving him a shell of the brilliant teenager we saw the year prior. As dire as he looked in this most recent campaign, giving up on a kid who took the league by storm as a teenage centerback isn’t smart.
There’s also the matter of registration. I wrote about this the other day but it’s worth mentioning that the only academy-trained senior players on the roster are now Luca Ranieri, Luca Lezzerini, Riccardo Sottil, Niccolò Fortini, and Riccardo Braschi. Those last three are likely to leave this summer as well. That means Fabio Grosso will have to dedicate two bench spots to Primavera players every week to meet Serie A’s registration rules.
The writing was on the wall as soon as the transfer window opened, though. Fabio Paratici’s first moves were central defenders Viery and Radu Drǎgușin, hammering home his evaluation of the other options on the roster. The fervor with which the new DS wielded the hatchet, axing as many of his predecessor’s players as possible, was evidence enough that I’d end up writing this article but I held out hope that maybe it would just be a dry loan and Comuzzo would return and take his place in the Viola rearguard for the next 15 years.
Alas, it’s not to be. €21 million is a significant sum and should help Paratici balance the books, which badly need balancing as his wholesale reconstruction of the club continues apace. Maybe Comuzzo had already peaked and will never reach those 2024-2025 heights again and this will turn out to be a brilliant move. Still, I have trouble seeing the benefit of moving on from a 21-year-old academy graduate who just earned his first Italy cap (albeit in the limbo of a we-missed-the-World-Cup friendly), especially when he’ll strengthen a direct rival for European qualification.
So long, Pietro. I’ll miss your fearlessness, your throwback ruggedness, and your indescribably cute big-brother, little-brother relationship with Ranieri. As far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome back any time.
