OFFICIAL: Gattuso steps down

In a stunning turn of events, Gennaro Gattuso and Fiorentina have parted ways just 22 days after the World Cup winner signed on as the new Viola manager. The club released a tersely-worded statement confirming perhaps the biggest news in calcio over the past 24 hours.

The sparsity of the language seems to confirm the rumors: that the rift between the sides developed around transfer policies and Gattuso’s agent Jorge Mendes. Specifically, Mendes was allegedly playing both sides of negotiations, looking to represent both the Tuscan team and his own clients in discussions, which allowed him to drive up fees and increase his own percentage. This led to a massive fallout with Joe Barone and the eventual split with Gattuso.

Rino will land on his feet, as Tottenham Hotspur are already linked to him. With the Premier League’s absurd finances strengthening them, they’re better able to pay the Gestifute tax, although hiring Gattuso—who attacked Spurs assistant Joe Jordan in 2011—is quite the conclusion to a coaching mess of their own, as Paulo Fonseca has just backed out of the job. This Viola episode will likely slide right off Gattuso’s back, just as his various on-field controversies have.

Fiorentina, on the other hand, look pretty bad here. It’s no secret that bringing Jorge Mendes into your club means letting him dominate transfer policy to at least some degree: Wolves, Swansea City, and Valencia are all evidence. If the club didn’t want to work with Mendes in the long-term, ending its relationship with Gattuso was the right choice, although it feels a bit like asking for a divorce 3 weeks into a marriage rather than just, you know, not getting married in the first place.