Sporting Director Fabio Paratici had this to say at the Wind Tre Media Center of Rocco B. Commisso Viola Park:

BEING CHOSEN: “I must thank the Commisso family for this great opportunity. I chose to join Fiorentina on 16 December. It took courage because Fiorentina is a great club with a city that is an international brand. The Premier League has taught me how important these things are. Florence and Fiorentina deserve more, even though over the coming months we need to stay focused and fight our way out of this situation.”

JUVENTUS: “I am here to respect the city’s DNA. Among the experiences I’ve had, apart from Juventus, I’d also like to mention Sampdoria. I’m very hands-on. I build a close bond with the club I’m at. My experiences have led me to believe in hard work and good organization.”

RELEGATION RELEASE CLAUSE: “It’s so contrary to my philosophy that it makes answering that question rather pointless.”

ROCCO COMMISSO: “Rocco didn’t need to convince me. I was the one who had to convince him to choose me.”

FIORENTINA FANS: “I like being under great pressure and Florence can be very stimulating in this respect.”

OBJECTIVES: “Things are done gradually, step by step. Today we need to stay focused to get out of this predicament. Tomorrow’s Fiorentina will have to be attractive, exciting to watch and international.”

PAOLO VANOLI: “I spoke to him yesterday. I know what kind of coach he is: he’s energetic and competent. I have great respect for him. The team is competing and performing well. The coach is doing an excellent job. I trust him and his staff.”

BEING A SPORTING DIRECTOR: “It’s hard to explain what it means in just a few words. I can say that my role models have been [Walter] Sabatini, [Pantaleo] Corvino and Rino Foschi and we will do a thorough job for each unit. In this line of work, people are more important than professionals. Going out to dinner with a professional can be more useful than watching every single match.”

ROBERTO GORETTI: “I have the utmost respect for Roberto. He’s very competent, loyal, honest and direct. I hope I’ll be able to help him. He’ll be my right-hand man, along with Lorenzo Giani and Moreno Zebi. They are all top-level professionals.”

DANIELE RUGANI: “He’s very professional. He’s a player of substance. People underestimate him. Daniele has always been reliable and delivered top-level performances.”

MOISE KEAN: “He’s Italy’s best forward. He just needs to be himself and keep his head in the game. I’m here to help Moise and the rest of the team do exactly that, to help them perform as well as they can on the pitch, together with all those who revolve around the team.”

TOTAL FREEDOM: “We mustn’t lose hope. I would never come here and ask to do whatever I want. We’ve got a group of people here who have worked and still work very well. Reaching two Conference League finals and one Coppa Italia final don’t just happen by chance. I’ll try to implement my method gradually, a method I’ve developed over the years. I’ll just try to help all of them.”

ROCCO B. COMMISSO VIOLA PARK: “It’s an extraordinary, amazing, breathtaking facility. I used to be at Tottenham and I don’t know whether theirs was better than this.”

NICOLO FAGIOLI: “Nicolo is a treasure of Italian football. I watched him grow up. He has qualities that few Italian players have. His ambition must be to become the best. That’s all he must work on.”