“It’s an emotional return, I feel at home here,” said Stefano Pioli.

It has gone slightly under the radar, but Pioli has returned to Italian football after his dalliance with the Saudi Pro League came to an end.

One of the best performing managers in Serie A over the last decade, he left AC Milan in the summer of 2024 after five exhausting years. 

Pioli coached Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr to a third-placed finish last season, while also reaching the semi-final of the Asian Champions League.

Then Fiorentina came calling, and Pioli was not going to reject the chance to return to the club he represented as a player in the 1990s and as a coach in the late 2010s.

He was the last permanent coach of the Dalla Valle brothers era at Fiorentina. Diego and Andrea had owned La Viola since the summer of 2002 and helped the club bounce back from the flames of extinction.

Yet by the summer of 2019 many Fiorentina fans believed they had outstayed their welcome after years of stagnation and continually seeing their best players sold to the highest bidder.

The brothers wanted out and the club was bought by Rocco Commisso.

Pioli had left several months before, sacked in the wake of a truly disastrous season. Six years on, he has returned to a markedly different club, and said as much.

“The facilities here are incredible,” he gushed. “It’s very different from how it was in the past, which is a big plus in terms of how we’ll approach our work and make sure next season goes as well as possible.”

Commisso has tried for years to build Fiorentina a new stadium in the city. Yet this being Italy, of course, the 75-year-old was denied at every possible turn.

The Italian-American, who was born in Calabria, instead decided to build Viola Park – a bucolic, state-of-the-art training facility made up of 31 hectare which hosts the club HQ, men’s, youth and women’s training facilities. 

Viola Park cost Commisso in excess of €110million to build and also boasts 10 fields, a swimming pool, a gym and medical centre. It is hands down the best training centre in the country.

Despite the flat end to last season, compared to the dying embers of the Dalla Valle days, Pioli returns to a club in an upward trajectory.

That being said, the reason why Pioli finds himself back in Florence still remains a mystery. Raffaele Palladino resigned last month just weeks after signing a contract extension.

No reason has been given for Palladino’s hasty exit, with neither the club nor the man issuing a statement to disclose any details.

Either way, Pioli will have a decent squad to work with and a chance to build on the work started by Palladino.

Pioli’s stock has risen within Italy in light of Milan’s trials and tribulations since he left. There was perhaps an air of under-appreciation for the work he carried out at Milan towards the end of his time. Milan, and their fans, felt they could do better.

Consistently making the top four, winning the Scudetto and reaching the Champions League semis all appear a distant dream with the current iteration.

If anything, Pioli massively overachieved considering the financial straightjacket throughout his reign. 

Now back in Florence, he has a good squad at his disposal. Last season’s top scorer Moise Kean appears intent on remaining after his breakout season. The Italian had a €52m release clause in his contract that was valid for the first two weeks of July.

Kean had been linked with a move to Manchester United and the Saudi Pro League, but has rebuffed any interest and wants to remain.

“I am highly motivated to keep going here,” he told reporters at the team’s pre-season curtain raiser. “Fiorentina gave me so much and always helped me out, now it is good for me to return for this new season with new motivation and ready to give my best for Fiorentina.”

This will be a sigh of relief for Pioli, who can bank on the Italian hitman to reach double figures again next term.

Yet the future of right-back Dodo remains unclear. The Brazilian was one of the standout performers under Palladino last season, bombing up and down the right looking like a Cafu incarnate. 

Yet such good form of course brings eyeballs and interest. Juventus are reportedly sniffing around, and there is a chance history could repeat itself. 

The signing of Edin Dzeko will add experience to what is a very young squad. Dzeko continues to defy time by consistently scoring goals, and with Fiorentina struggling for them when Kean was out of sorts last season, Dzeko will prove vital for Pioli, a coach who values experienced players.

The likes of Pietro Comuzzo and Luca Ranieri established themselves last season, and with Nicolo Fagioli signed on a permanent basis from Juve and Fabiano Parisi also showing promise, there’s youth for Pioli to work with.

At the club’s season curtain-raiser at Viola Park this week, Pioli was welcomed by 1,500 fans singing ‘Pioli’s on fire’. 

With his reputation higher than ever, Pioli could be very well on fire this season, and who knows where he can take Fiorentina.