Fiorentina striker Moise Kean did not feature as the Viola suffered a 0-3 home defeat against newly promoted Frosinone on August 30, a result that left the club bottom of Serie A after two matches, without a point and with seven goals conceded. That Kean was unavailable for a fixture of such symbolic weight — the club's centenary celebration — sharpened a situation that was already uncomfortable.
Fiorentina head coach Fabio Grosso addressed the absence directly after the final whistle, stating that he would have played Kean. The comment is significant not because it resolves anything, but because it confirms Grosso's position: the striker is still his player, still part of his plans, and still not available to him. The transfer saga linking Kean to Como has dragged through the final weeks of the window without conclusion, and the club is paying the price in real time.
The numbers around Kean's 2026-27 season are thin but telling. He has made one Serie A appearance for Fiorentina, registering one goal and no assists with an average rating of 7.30. At 26, with an AI overall rating of 70 and a ceiling assessed at 72, Kean is not a player whose best years are behind him, but he is also not improving at the rate his early promise once suggested.
The broader context makes this harder to ignore. Fiorentina have scored zero goals in two league matches. Grosso's side has conceded seven. The squad's attacking output is non-existent, and the man the coach says he would have selected was not on the pitch. Whether that is a consequence of the transfer situation, a disciplinary matter, or something else, the data does not say — and the club has not clarified.
What is clear is that Fiorentina's centenary has opened with a crisis rather than a celebration. Grosso acknowledged fragility and insecurity in his post-match remarks, and the table reflects exactly that. Kean's status — present but absent, wanted but unsold — sits at the centre of it. The window closes soon. Until it does, Grosso manages a squad with a gap where his striker should be.