Fiorentina eye Argentine midfielder in Klagenfurt showdown

Fiorentina are targeting Argentine midfielder Franco Mastantuono to fill an attacking‑midfield vacancy, and they intend to use Real Madrid’s preseason friendly in Klagenfurt as a bargaining platform. The club hopes the encounter will speed up loan negotiations before the player leaves Los Blancos.

Real Madrid are set to play the first friendly of their preseason today, having already travelled to the Austrian city of Klagenfurt. The Merengue side will face Fiorentina, providing Jose Mourinho’s squad with its first real test of the campaign.

Los Blancos published their squad for the game yesterday, and the most notable omission was forward Franco Mastantuono. After featuring in two training matches last week, the Argentine was left out to protect him from injury risk as a loan move looms.

His loan destination remains undecided, with three Italian clubs expressing interest in recent days, including Fiorentina, the rivals of the Merengues in the upcoming friendly.

According to Diario AS, Serie A side Fiorentina plan to use the Klagenfurt clash as an opportunity for talks with Real Madrid, sending sporting director Fabio Paratici and general manager Alessandro Ferrari to Austria to accelerate the process.

Real Madrid also want to finalise the deal quickly, a stance reflected by Mastantuono’s absence from the squad list. While his agent has advocated a return to River Plate, the Merengues have ruled that out, preferring the player to continue his career in Europe.

Although Fiorentina will miss out on Champions League football next season, they can guarantee Mastantuono regular minutes in the attacking midfield role. Both Real Madrid and the player are expected to confirm his next destination shortly.