With 33 Serie A goals in the past calendar year, Dusan Vlahovic has crowned himself one of the most sought-after strikers on the European fields. The Serb presents staggering numbers and is, together with Cristiano Ronaldo, the ‘calendar year top scorer’ of the 21st century in the Italian league. The story of the striker who worked his way from the youth at Fiorentina to the spotlight of global football in just one year.
By Mart Oude Nijeweeme
It is December 16, 2020. Fiorentina will be visited by Sassuolo in its own Stadio Artemio Franchi. In the striker for the home team one Dusan Vlahovic. The attacker has only scored once in his previous ten appearances in Serie A, but has the full confidence of trainer Cesare Prandelli. The Serb, who describes himself as ‘Zlatan of Belgrade’, has been surrounded by doubts until then. Until the 35th minute. Fiorentina is awarded a penalty after a foul on Franck Ribéry, after which Vlahovic hits the target. “It felt like a liberation, like a breath of fresh air,” the attacker admits afterwards. “From that point on, it got easier.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY8S9BKCLZI
Those words seem to hold true to this day. The striking penalty turns out to be a turning point in Vlahovic’s career. The striker closes the year by scoring in three consecutive games, including a brilliant marker in the 0-3 away game against Juventus. It is just an advance for all the beauty that would follow in 2021. No one mentioned his name during the most recent Golden Ball election and his name was not to be found on the 23-man shortlist of the FIFPro World XI. Nevertheless, we can safely say that Vlahovic is the sensation of the past calendar year.
Vlahovic scored 33 times in Serie A in 2021. In the five biggest competitions in Europe, only Robert Lewandowski scored more often. What the Serbian attack leader of Fiorentina is doing is literally historic. In the past sixty years, no player has scored as many goals in the Italian league in a single calendar year as Vlahovic. Cristiano Ronaldo noted the same number in 2020. The former Juventus striker also scored 33 times last year, but did so at the age of 35. Vlahovic will turn 22 in January. The pair include Hernan Crespo (30 goals in 2001 on behalf of Lazio), Luca Toni (31 goals in 2005 on behalf of Palermo and Fiorentina), Gonzalo Higuaín (30 goals in 2016 on behalf of Napoli and Juventus) and Ciro Immobile (30 goals in 2017 on behalf of Lazio) behind him.
“It does not surprise me that he is doing so well,” says Flor van den Eynden. As a youth player of Internazionale, the Belgian faced Vlahovic four times in the 2018/19 season. “Twice in the league, in the Super Cup and in the cup. At the beginning we didn’t know who he was, we didn’t know him. After two games that changed. We adapted our playing style to neutralize him. strong, you can’t get him off the ball. He was already a striker back then that you saw was going to be a really big one. I remember one time we lost 3-1 and he scored all the goals. He’s insanely hard to beat to defend.”
Vlahovic is in Van den Eynden’s top three of the best players he has played against. The other two? Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden. “There are two-meter defenders in Serie A. They don’t come to him. I would compare him to Haaland, but a little slower. I think he can go very far, is someone of the new generation. That he was not in the Golden Ball election is easy to explain. Fiorentina players are less noticeable. Then it is difficult to end up in the top 20. His value? I think Fiorentina wants eighty million for it. Well, given the current amounts being paid, I don’t think that’s a crazy amount.”
In any case, 21-year-old Vlahovic is one of the most sought-after strikers during the upcoming transfer window. Fiorentina will not like to let his striker go, but at the same time knows that it can make a big hit. Fiorentina is enjoying an extremely strong season with Vincenzo Italiano, who came over from Spezia, at the helm. La Viola is currently seventh and has set itself the goal of securing a ticket to European football. A legitimate goal, but only if it can also have the top scorer of the Serie A after the winter. And that does not seem certain.
Vlahovic’s contract expires in mid-2023 and the protagonist does not appear to have any intention of extending that commitment. Fiorentina, for its part, believes it has made a legitimate offer, although it has no intention of letting the club go bankrupt to keep its showpiece on board. “People should recognize an environment that has brought them so much. Our proposal has continuously gone up, but at some point the limit has been reached,” said CEO Joe Barone. “This club used to have a turnover of 90 million euros. Due to the pandemic, there is still 72 million left, we have to take that into account. There are limits.”
Dusan Vlahovic scored 33 goals in Serie A in 2021, equaling Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘calendar year record’ (33 in 2020).
As Van den Eynden outlines La Viola a price tag of eighty million euros hung around Vlahovic’s neck. The club is cautiously optimistic that it could become even more, as a plethora of Premier League clubs have already expressed their interest. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are happy to see the striker come, while Newcastle United are even willing to pay a hundred million euros. Within the national borders, Juventus seems to be the largest candidate, although it has Vecchia Signora not the financial means to play a serious role in the transfer violence.
It is easy to explain why Vlahovic is one of the most wanted strikers in Europe. The attacker is in top form and has enormous potential. The fourteen-time Serbian international is determined to make a success of his career. Definitely not a player with a low work ethic. Ribéry turned out to have played a key role in that regard. The Frenchman reported to the club two hours before the start of the training, which made Vlahovic think. “If Ribery does that, a 38-year-old man who has won everything a player can win, why don’t I do it?” Corriere dello Sport.
“I’m a player who has yet to prove himself. Either I follow his example, or I stay in bed. It was a luxury I couldn’t afford.” The two developed a warm bond of friendship and also got along very well off the field. “From the start, he gave me practical tips, both on and off the field. When I was mentally broken, he told me not to give up. I learned to live like a pro.” He contradicts that the striker is accused of stubbornness. There is a certain arrogance that he only shows on the pitch, arguing that confidence is the key to success for a striker. “Off the pitch I can be crazy, but not in a bad way. I often yell, joke and laugh a lot.”
He also studies other strikers, including Haaland. Vlahovic describes his Norwegian colleague as ‘goal machine’ and ‘robot’. The mix of humility and self-assurance that Haaland has is reflected in the Serb’s game. He also feels the same connection with Zlatan Ibrahimovic. When Fiorentina was 4-3 too strong for AC Milan in November, partly thanks to two hits from Vlahovic, and thus ended the Milanese’s unbeaten start to the competition, the striker decided to leave his Swedish example alone afterwards. “I know what it’s like to lose and I don’t want to bother anyone,” he said afterwards telegraf.rs.
“Every meeting with AC Milan is special for me, because everyone knows how I think about Ibrahimovic,” he added. “But I don’t feel like I’m his successor, because I still have a long way to go to reach his level. The fact that at forty he is still playing at the highest level says everything about his hunger and character .” Ibrahimovic’s unwavering belief in his own ability is an obvious source of inspiration, with Vlahovic feeling more confident than ever before. More than a year after the crucial penalty against Sassuolo, there is without a doubt a player with a completely different state of mind. The only doubt he has now is where he will continue his career.