Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella is ready to trim his bloated squad by offloading up to eight players in January.
The Viola currently sit in ninth place in the Serie A standings, despite struggling earlier in the season domestically, but have been in imperious form in the Europa League.
Fiorentina have the biggest squad in the league, with a total of 34 players to choose from, but Fiorentina director Daniele Prade admits quite a few will have to leave in January.
“We have too big of a squad and we have to send players who are not needed at the moment to mature elsewhere. Therefore our market will be based on exits,” Prade told Tuttomercatoweb.
Much-criticized Slovenian international Josip Ilicic could be the highest-profile exit, with Sampdoria and Torino both keen on the elegant midfielder.
Fringe members Mounir El Hamdaoui, Oleksandar Iakovenko, Octavio and Andrea Lazzari have all been told to find new clubs, or risk getting released.
Meanwhile, youngsters Joshua Brillante, Ahmed Hegazy and Luca Lezzerini are all expected to be loaned out in order to gain first-team football and grow when the transfer window re-opens.
Australian international Brillante is being linked to Empoli and Hegazy is thought to have many admirers in Spain, whilst young shot-stopper Lezzerini is expected to have many suitors in Serie B.
