
Here is a brief FM20 team guide of the Fiorentina squad, their club structure, relationship any potential managers will have with the board, expectations and possible tactics any FM manager can use.
About the club
Fiorentina are a professional football club that ply their trade in the Serie A. ACF Fiorentina, have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A seasons.
Fiorentina has won two Italian Championships, in 1955–56 and again in 1968–69, as well as six Coppa Italia trophies and one Supercoppa Italiana. On the European stage, Fiorentina won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1960–61. They finished runners-up in the 1956–57 European Cup, losing against Real Madrid, and also came close to winning the 1989–90 UEFA Cup, finishing as runners-up against Juventus.
Fiorentina is one of the fifteen European teams that played the finals in all three major continental competitions: the Champions League (1956–1957, the first Italian team to reach the final in the top continental competition), the UEFA Cup Winners and the UEFA Cup.
They fell into serious financial issues in the late ’90s and effectively fell into administration in 2001. They failed to get admittance into the Serie B for the 2002-2003 season and failed to exist as a club, only before new owners reformed the club again. They immediately came back into the Serie A in 2004-2005 season and have played there ever since.
Board Expectations
Fiorentina barely survived relegation by just 3 points in the 2018-2019 season and finished a dismal 16th place. The board requirements should be taken over, will be,

- Make the top half of the Serie A league table.
- Make the QF of the Italian Cup/Coppa Italia.
There will be no particular demands from the board in terms of how you want to play as long as you achieve the results.
The transfer budget when you initially take over should not be too great considering that Fiorentina have already spent on a couple of players and is a relatively smaller club with lesser ambitions.
The club, however, has decent training facilities and a good youth academy, you’ll definitely need to improve this if you want to lean on this for support.
Squad, Formation and Tactical Style
Fiorentina are a team that generally like to play on the counter. They like playing a fast tempo game and release their wing-backs to create chances for their front men. So a Fluid counter-attacking style of football is best suited to go with their strengths.
Alternatively, you can choose to go with Wing-play if you see fit.
A 3-5-2 is probably the best-suited formation to the available squad of players. This is incidentally how they line up in real life as well. This also helps them maintain the width and releasing the ball quickly to counter opponents.
However, this leaves one of your best young players (Federico Chiesa) play a little out of position but he can be retrained to play there.
A rough example of what your line-up would look like in a 3-5-2 formation is as follows;

- Bartlomiej Dragowski as a regular keeper.
- Martin Caceres, German Pezzella & Nikola Milenkovic as the 3 centre backs. Milenkovic can be played as a Ball Playing Defender.
- Pol Lirola & Dalbert as the 2 wing-backs. Increased crossing instructions to take advantage of counter-attacks and the 2 strikers.
- Erick Pulgar, Milan Badelj & Gaetano Castrovilli as the 3 central midfielders. Pulgar to be played as a defensive midfielder, Badelj as a deep playmaker & Castrovilli as a Mezzala or a Roaming playmaker.
- Kevin Prince Boateng & Federico Chiesa as the 2 men upfront in a forward and a shadow striker role.
Alternatively, you can deploy a 4-3-3 and play Ribery upfront with Chiesa & Boateng playing their more conventional roles. Be sure to always play for set pieces as Fiorentina are a team that relies heavily on set pieces to score goals.
Key Players
1. Nikola Milenkovic

Milenkovic is one of the best players in the squad. At just 22, he displays incredible maturity and is a massive threat from set-pieces.
2. Erick Pulgar

Pulgar may be a new signing but is a very impactful defensive midfielder. At just 25 he has a lot of years ahead of him and is already an established player. He is another major threat from set-pieces.
3. German Pezzella

Pezzella is the club captain and a solid defender. The Argentinian international is very good at marshalling his resources and is an integral part of the Fiorentina defence.
4. Federico Chiesa

Chiesa is a rare attacking threat in a team filled with defensive players. His flair and trickery from the wings is a nightmare for defenders to deal with.
Weaknesses
- The quality of backups in the squad may not be up to the quality and could prove fatal if your squad is affected by injuries.
- You run the risk of some talents being poached by other clubs especially in search of higher wages.
- There is very little attacking threat with almost no strikers who are first-team ready and you have to rely on makeshift false 9 players to do the job.
Potential Transfers (in)
Fiorentina are not the best squad in the league with respect to squad depth, these players could be welcome additions to the side.
- Cengiz Under
- Emanuel Vignato
Potential Transfers (Out)
These players may be surplus to requirements at the club or may not be of the expected quality.
- Bryan Dabo
- Jacob Rasmussen
Young Prospects
There are a few exciting young prospects in the ranks who have the potential to be some of the best players in the league. A few examples are;
- Federico Chiesa (AMR, ST)
- Nikola Milenkovic (CB)
- Christobal Montiel (CAM)
- Dusan Vlahovic (ST)
FM20 Team Guide - Fiorentina
To Summarize, managing Fiorentina poses a decent challenge to FM20 managers. With the club ambitions not very high, it is easy to reach your targets but will you be able to hold on to your young stars and build an empire with the club?