Niccolò Fortini, Fiorentina's 20-year-old defender, carried a 6.60 average rating out of the Viola's sole Serie A fixture of 2026-27 — a result that ended Roma 4-0 Fiorentina on 25 August — and now finds himself playing out the early weeks of his season against a backdrop of significant squad turbulence that has little to do with his own performances.
That distinction matters. Fortini is not the story generating noise around the club right now, and in the context of a squad in flux, that relative stability has its own value.
The turbulence centres on Moise Kean, who has reportedly pushed to force through a move to Como and was fined by Fiorentina after arriving late to training. Fabio Paratici had publicly insisted the club felt no pressure to sell, but the situation appears to have deteriorated. With Kean's future uncertain, Fiorentina have been linked to Joshua Zirkzee as a potential replacement — a forward currently at Manchester United — while Jonathan David, despite being connected to the Viola, is understood to be resisting any departure from Juventus. The forward line that Fortini's defensive work is meant to support is, at this moment, genuinely unsettled.
Fiorentina's Fabio Grosso opens his tenure at the foot of the Serie A table: one match played, one defeat, four goals conceded, none scored. President Commisso acknowledged the opening result plainly, offering no excuses while expressing confidence the club would improve. That is the institutional tone — sober, forward-looking — and Fortini's own profile fits it reasonably well.
At 20, Fortini carries an AI overall rating of 68 out of 100, with a projected ceiling of 76. Those numbers suggest a player still ascending rather than one who has found his level, which is precisely the kind of profile a club in Grosso's position needs to be able to rely on while the senior squad around him is reorganised. One match is too small a sample to draw conclusions about his defensive contribution, but a 6.60 rating in a 4-0 defeat — while not exceptional — indicates he was not among those most responsible for the collapse.
The transfer window closes with Fiorentina still navigating their forward options, and the defensive unit Fortini belongs to will need to tighten considerably before Grosso's side can begin accumulating points. For Fortini specifically, the task is straightforward: keep performing at or above his current rating while the club resolves the more complicated questions elsewhere on the pitch.