Fiorentina attempted to land Sassuolo defender Luca Antei in a deadline day deal, only to see their bid rejected.
The Viola were desperate to sign a defender and approached Sassuolo for Antei before turning their attention to Yohan Benalouane of Leicester City.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, it was Eusebio Di Francesco himself who wanted Antei to stay at Sassuolo.
Fiorentina offered around €3.5 million, but it clearly was not enough to convince president Giorgio Squinzi to let go of the young defender, rejecting the bid from the Viola as well as another offer from Empoli.
Antei has played only once this season, after undergoing knee surgery in June, against Atalanta last Sunday.
The Viola had talks with Atalanta‘s Guglielmo Stendardo too, only to then decide that Benalouane was the most convenient option to give to coach Paulo Sousa with so little time left of the transfer window.
