Pantaleo Corvino’s 2017 trip to Belgrade ended with juventus fc already watching Dusan Vlahovic, but Fiorentina still moving first. The former sporting director closed a preliminary 1.5 million euro deal for the teenager, who later became a major sale to Juventus in 2022.
Corvino in Belgrade
Corvino was in June 2017 to close Nikola Milenkovic’s transfer from Partizan Belgrade, and that trip brought Vlahovic into focus too. Partizan used a 17-year-old Vlahovic that day, and he had already debuted for the first team the previous season. He also held the club records for youngest debutant and youngest scorer, which helps explain why Juventus and Arsenal were already following him.
During the visit, Corvino spoke with Vlahovic’s family. He told his mother, Sladjana: “Stia tranquilla signora, Dusan a Firenze calcherà le orme di Batistuta”.
Fiorentina’s 1.5 million euro bet
The move could not be completed at once because Vlahovic was still a minor. Fiorentina signed him to a preliminary contract worth 1.5 million euros, with the transfer becoming operative in February of the following year, when he turned 18. The operation was first designed to strengthen Fiorentina’s Primavera side, and it cost the club a non-EU player slot.
That was the risk side of the deal. The payoff came later, when Vlahovic stopped looking like a youth project and became a reference point for Fiorentina’s first team. Stevan Jovetic also helped him settle in Florence by renting him his house and giving him advice.
From youth signing to Juventus fee
Vlahovic delivered 44 goals in 98 matches for Fiorentina. By 2022, the club received almost 80 million euros for his transfer to Juventus, a return that dwarfed the original outlay and turned the 2017 move into one of Fiorentina’s most valuable long-term buys.
For Fiorentina, the lesson sits in the timeline: a teenager spotted on a scouting trip for another player, a family pitch in Belgrade, a delayed move because of age rules, then a first-team striker sale years later. The deal only made sense if the club was willing to wait for the player to grow into it.
