Dusan Vlahovic's 33 goals for Fiorentina in 2021 have propelled him to stardom and has alerted the premier league to a potential coup. Could he be the next young player to dominate European football?
I will play for the biggest clubs.
Valeri Bojinov was leading the line for Partizan when he saw a 15-year-old become the club's youngest ever player, scorer and debutant in the Eternal derby against Red Star.
Vlahovic wanted Bojinov every week. The former Manchester City player asked the Filippini sporting director to fork out over one million dollars for his understudy.
Bojinov said that he was crazy. I liked his arrogance. I thought he would be a strong player.
Vlahovic's technical and physical development during his four years at Fiorentina is obvious.
After arriving in Florence on his 18th birthday, the Serb decided to learn Italian and score goals at night in order to impress the locals.
When Inter Milan came to town in December, Vlahovic picked his moment. He peeled away from his marker in his own half, sprinted past the last man and curled a shot in at the far corner after a long, hard, and exhausting game against the best defence in Italy.
His rise has been rapid. His 47 goals in Italy so far have signaled a landmark moment in the history of Fiorentina, allowing them to return to challenge for Europe after one of their worst ever sides were spared.
Vlahovic has scored 40 goals for club and country.
The strike against Inter has become one of his trademark moments but what really sets Vlahovic apart is the variety of his goals, especially the 36 which came in the last 13 months.
He has only two headed goals to show for it, and his most defining strikes have been showpieces of his athletic and shooting abilities. His shot conversion rate is one of the highest in Italy and he has a 100 per cent record over the free-kicks and penalties.
There is more to him than meets the eye. Bojinov discovered that his hunger to get to the very top was the driving force behind his development. The parallels with a young Zlatan seem to be due to his innate appetite for success.
Vlahovic's brace against AC Milan in November ensured he came out on top of his rivalry with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
When AC Milan visited Fiorentina in November, it was a case of "whatever you can do, I can do better" for Vlahovic. The Serb's won the game because of his immense potential and because of Ibrahimovic's timeless excellence.
After scoring his second, Vlahovic pointed to the turf of the Artemio Franchi. He knew he had made it in Florence when he started saying the same thing as Gabriel Batistuta.
Despite the board's offer to make him the highest-paid player in club history, it's almost certain he will leave the city in the same way as Batigol, with a big move to a title-winning side.
The wise alternative to Haaland?
If 2020 was the year of Erling Haaland, it was Vlahovic. His 33 goals in Italy's top league were bettered only by Robert Lewandowski in Europe's top five leagues and allowed him to match the Italian record set by CR7 in a calendar year. Not bad for someone who was emulating CR7's celebration a few years back.
The frightening speed at which he has burned bridges to transform into a prototype of a modern strikers is something reminiscent of his big Norwegian peer.
"Maybe he's only quicker than me, but we're neck and neck on the rest," Vlahovic said.
It seems like the two left-footed sharpshooters were made out of the same mold, with tall, physical, athletic, impudent, cold-blooded, bullish, constantly hungry for more and born days into the new millennium.
Vlahovic scored more league goals than Haaland in 2021.
While Haaland is more of a box player and gets involved in the team's build-up, Vlahovic is a more traditional target man who likes to play on the shoulders of defenders and get on the end of the attacking chain.
The race for Haaland will intensify in June when his reported 75m Euros release clause is activated and, by his agent Mino Raiola's own admission, there are only four clubs that he could consider joining.
With all options still open and 18 months left on his contract, it feels like Vlahovic could get a bigger fee in the summer.
His natural career progression and physical qualities make him the logical next step in his career. There will be more interested parties come June, with Manchester City, Manchester United, Manchester United and others already linked with a move. The time is right for Vlahovic to pick the next stage of his career.
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