Fiorentina dismissed Fabio Grosso on Sunday night after three defeats in three league matches, confirming the decision through an official statement. The 2006 World Cup winner lasted only weeks in a job he took over in June, and he becomes the first Serie A head coach to lose his post this season.
The record is stark. La Viola sit bottom of the table with no points, one goal scored and nine conceded across a 4-0 defeat at Roma, a 3-0 home loss to Frosinone and a 2-1 home defeat by Torino on Saturday. A 4-1 Coppa Italia win over Benevento in between did not save him.
Vanoli walking back into the job he left
Paolo Vanoli is expected to take charge again. Fabrizio Romano reported a verbal agreement with the Italian coach overnight, with formal steps to follow. Get Italian Football News says Fiorentina are working to finalise the deal, with Thiago Motta and Igor Tudor among other names discussed.
Vanoli, 54, coached Fiorentina for most of last season. He arrived in November 2025 after Stefano Pioli was dismissed following a poor start to the campaign, and he left at the end of the 2025-26 season. Before Florence, Vanoli spent a season at Torino, managed Venezia and worked as assistant at Spartak Moscow.
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A summer rebuild that unravelled in three weeks
Grosso arrived off the back of two well-regarded campaigns at Sassuolo, and Fiorentina backed him with a reported summer transfer market spend of around €150m, according to Yahoo Sports UK. Tension between Grosso and director Fabio Paratici had also been reported before the decision was taken, Football Italia noted.
The dismissal is Fiorentina’s second in-season managerial change inside a year. Pioli was let go in early November 2025; Grosso lasted three league matches. La Viola travel to Venezia on Friday 11 September, and Vanoli is expected to be in place by then once the formal appointment is signed off.
