OFFICIAL: Hans Nicolussi Caviglia off to Parma

Fiorentina continued its midseason makeover today with the news that Hans Nicolussi Caviglia’s loan has been terminated early. The midfielder won’t return to Venezia, though, and will instead head up the road to Parma on another loan for the rest of the year. The deal will oblige the Ducali to pay €6 million to keep him should they avoid relegation, per TMW’s Dimitri Conti.

It’s no surprise, as HNC’s Viola tenure was pretty miserable. Like everyone else, he was execrable under Stefano Pioli, but unlike most of his teammates, he never looked like improving once Paolo Vanoli took over. 16 appearances (12 starts), an assist (which was all Moise Kean), and 4 yellow cards. Fiorentina lost every Serie A game he started; his only winning involvements were in the Conference League and 13 total minutes against Udinese and Cremonese.

I’m not quite sure why it didn’t work out for Nicolussi Caviglia. He doesn’t have outstanding physical or technical ability but his problem seemed more mental. He spent every minute of every game 10 yards ahead of the defense and directly in the middle of the pitch. He got through a lot of running but it was all in straight lines, on rails; he never showed for the ball or provided an option for teammates. He was guilty of what every coach I know would call hiding from the ball.

He was rock solid at Venezia and maybe Parma will a more comfortable situation for him, especially since he spent a season there back in 2020, although it went quite poorly that time. Adrián Bernabé does all the creative stuff so HNC will be able to plug into a midfield 3 as a guy who does the little stuff, runs a lot, and helps grind out results. Parma lost a similar midfielder over the summer in Simon Sohm, which, oh yeah. Right. Never mind.

Anyways, Nicolussi Caviglia will go down as just another of many absurd missteps in Daniele Pradè’s final mercaot. I bear him no ill will and wish him luck in Parma but I’m also glad to see the back of him. Given the state of the Viola midfield, though, it’s not a good sign for his career that he couldn’t carve out a role here. On the other hand, now that he’s grown out his wispy mustache, perhaps he’s embracing his inner villain and will become a classic Fiorentina beffata guy.