Fiorentina forward Roberto Piccoli scored in a 3-2 pre-season friendly defeat against QPR at Loftus Road on July 26, giving the side a foothold in the match that ultimately proved insufficient against a sharper home side.
The result is a minor footnote in isolation, but the context around Piccoli matters more. A 25-year-old striker who managed three goals and one assist across 31 Serie A appearances last season — finishing with an average rating of 6.50 — arrives at pre-season needing to demonstrate that his output can climb. Fiorentina ended 2025-26 in 14th place with 41 goals scored in 38 matches, a figure that underlines how much the club needs its forwards to convert more consistently. Piccoli's pre-season goal, alongside new arrival Arthur Atta, at least signals engagement with that challenge.
The 3-2 scoreline tells a familiar story for a side that drew 15 times last season — a team capable of competing but not yet of closing out matches. Fiorentina conceded 50 goals in the league campaign, and even in a friendly setting, shipping three against a Championship-level opponent is the kind of detail a new head coach files away. Piccoli's contribution was a positive marker, but the defensive frailty that surrounded it is the more pressing concern heading into the new season.
His AI overall rating of 56 out of 100 suggests a player with room to develop, and at 25 he sits at the age where that development either accelerates or stalls. Three league goals last season is a modest return for a starting forward; the question is whether Piccoli can push that number meaningfully higher in 2026-27, particularly if Fiorentina's attacking structure becomes more defined under new management.
A friendly defeat in west London resolves nothing, but Piccoli's name on the scoresheet is the right kind of early signal.