Fiorentina midfielder Franco Mastantuono heads into Saturday's home fixture against Como having contributed three Serie A goals in six appearances this season, yet Paolo Vanoli's side sit 19th in the table with four points from six matches — one win, one draw, four defeats, and fourteen goals conceded.
The arithmetic is the problem. A 19-year-old Argentine producing three goals at a rate that would flatter many established midfielders is, in isolation, an encouraging return. In the context of a side that has shipped fourteen and scored only seven, Mastantuono's output reads less like a solution and more like a partial offset against structural damage. His average rating of 6.95 across those six Serie A appearances suggests consistent individual engagement; the team's position suggests the engagement is not translating into results.
The defeat away against Genoa — a 2-1 loss in which Osmajic scored and assisted for Junior Messias, with Fiorentina's only return coming via a Vasquez own goal — illustrated the pattern. Vanoli's side arrived, fell behind, and found themselves chasing a game that had already been decided in the first half. The Genoa result was Vanoli's first league defeat as Fiorentina coach, and it arrived in a manner that offered little tactical ambiguity: the viola were outworked before they could respond.
Vanoli confirmed in his pre-Como press conference that Mastantuono is carrying a hand injury — a screw in the hand, to be precise — which adds a layer of context to how the teenager has been managed across these opening weeks. That he has still reached three goals under those conditions is notable. That Fiorentina need far more than individual contributions to escape the bottom of the table is equally plain.
Como arrive at the Fiorentina ground having just played in the Champions League, which gives Fabregas's side a different kind of fatigue to manage. For Mastantuono, the match is an opportunity to convert personal form into collective points — the only currency that matters at this stage of the season. His AI overall of 72 out of 100, with a potential of 82, marks him as a player still ascending. Whether Fiorentina's season ascends with him is the more pressing question.