Vincenzo Italiano is building a Fiorentina reunion in Istanbul. Having already secured Dušan Vlahović at Besiktas, the manager has now set his sights on another of his former Viola charges: Nico González. According to Sky Sport, the Turkish club are ready to submit a formal offer for the Argentine winger — and the combination of an existing relationship with the manager and the presence of his former Fiorentina teammate could prove the factors that swing the decision.
González’s Status at Juventus: A Stopover, Not a Destination
The Argentine’s return to the Continassa following the expiry of his Atletico Madrid loan has been treated as precisely that — a brief transit stop before his next chapter begins. At the family gathering against the Next Gen at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday, González was not presented to supporters, joining Arthur and Milik among the players pointedly left out of the introductions. It was the clearest possible institutional signal: he is going.
Atletico Madrid had been working to bring him back permanently, with Diego Simeone’s admiration for the player well established. But as that route stalls, Besiktas have entered the picture with speed and purpose.
The Besiktas Formula — and Juventus’s Counter-Position
Besiktas are proposing a loan with a right of purchase — a structure that suits their own financial model but which Juventus would prefer to avoid. The bianconeri are looking for a permanent sale that generates a clean capital gain of around €27-28 million — the figure Carnevali has consistently maintained is the minimum acceptable. Listening to Besiktas’s loan proposal is one thing; accepting it without a significant obligation to buy is another.
González’s own wishes will be a determining factor. He had made clear his desire to return to Atletico, and Istanbul was never part of his stated ambitions. Whether the presence of Italiano — the manager during the best years of his career, when he produced 25 goals and 14 assists in 86 Fiorentina appearances — and Vlahović, with whom he has shared a pitch on 42 occasions across Fiorentina and Juventus, is sufficient to overcome his reservations about Turkey remains the central question.
Three Viola Veterans in Istanbul
The symmetry of the proposed reunion is not without its own appeal. González, Vlahović, and Italiano shared some of their finest professional moments at Fiorentina — forging a bond that extended beyond the tactical to the personal. For Italiano, rebuilding that chemistry in a new environment represents both an ambition and a genuine footballing proposition. For González and Vlahović, it offers the possibility of rediscovering form in an atmosphere of mutual familiarity and trust.
Whether sentiment and personal connection can close the gap between Besiktas’s loan offer and Juventus’s permanent-sale insistence will determine whether this particular Fiorentina reunion comes to pass. Carnevali and Massara are listening. The clock is ticking. And Istanbul, for the moment, is where the summer’s most unexpected subplot is being written.
