Patrick Cutrone joined Fiorentina on an 18-month loan back in January and was expected to make the switch permanent for £16m in the summer of 2021, but he’s not having the best time in Italy. The 22-year-old has been short of form and playing time under Giuseppe Iachini, so they may be wishing they didn’t have an obligation to buy.
Decent first season, bad second season
Cutrone got off to a slow start in his first season at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, but he ended his debut campaign strongly. The Italian U21 international failed to score in his first nine Serie A appearances at Fiorentina, but he netted four times and bagged one assist in his last 10 league games.
Cutrone has been unable to pick up where he left off, however. In his second season, the 22-year-old has failed to score or make an assist in eight appearances (178 minutes) across the board and finds himself behind Franck Ribery (six appearances, two assists), Dusan Vlahovic (seven appearances, one goal) and Christian Kouamé (eight appearances, one goal) in the pecking order.
He’s yet to start a game in Serie A this campaign and has so far fired blanks in front of goal, so Fiorentina must be regretting bringing him to Florence.
Is there a way back for him at Wolves?
I don’t think so. Cutrone will turn his loan move permanent at the end of the season for £16.2m, as per the terms of the agreement, so he’s on his way out regardless. The 22-year-old showed some moments of quality at Wolves (July 30, 2019 – present) but scored only three goals and made four assists in 24 games, so he wasn’t prolific.
We’ve managed to tie down Raul Jimenez to a long-term deal and brought in Fabio Silva from FC Porto, so our attack is a lot stronger than last season. There are many supporters who wish Cutrone was given more of a chance at Molineux, but his decline at Fiorentina is mimicking what happened here.
Time will tell if he can turn things around with the Violas.
