Joe Barone, Fiorentina players’ grief
The grief of Fiorentina soccer players over the passing of Joe Barone
The news of the death, at just 57 years old, of Joe Barone has understandably shaken the Fiorentina environment, a club whose general manager he had been since 2019, the year of Rocco Commisso's acquisition of the purple club. All the players wanted to post a message of condolence, using social networks as a platform.
Tons of condolence messages
From Nico Gonzalez to Dodô, from Michael Kayode to Antonin Barak, via Jonathan Ikonè, M'Bala Nzola and Fabiano Parisi, just to name a few, all dedicated even one sentence to the executive who was born in Pozzallo, Sicily, on March 20, 1966, and moved to Brooklyn when he was still a child with his family.
The words of Riccardo Sottil
Particularly heartfelt was the thought of Riccardo Sottil: "Hello Joe – wrote the purple striker -, what an immense sadness today in our hearts, è it was all so fast that it does not seem true, I write these words to you with a big knot in my throat, they are words that come from the depths of my heart and I want to dedicate them to you".
"You have been the person who believed in me from the very first training sessions that you viewed in Moena to your landing in this companyà – added Sottil -, you have always been the one who fought on the front line for all of us, always putting your face on it. How many times we talked to each other, how many times you called me into your little room to talk about me and how much you wanted to see me at the top, always, how many jokes about that shot on the 'second post' but as you said, I can only say thank you Joe for how you treated me from day one. It won't be easy, but when we take the field Fiorentina will play especially for you and to try to raise a trophy you have long dreamed of".
Rolando Mandragora and Luca Ranieri remember Joe Barone
Rolando Mandragora also dedicated a long message to Joe Barone: "You left us too soon and all this does not seem real – wrote the midfielder -, è such a sadness! I can only thank you for wanting me and bringing me to Florence, for believing in me, for the pats on the back in the negative moments, where you were always present with your loyalty and sincerity, for the simplicity and affection with which you placed yourself with me, my family and my little one. I hope to be able to give you together with my companions, many satisfactions and that something you so much dreamed of".
Also on Instagram he è expressed himself Luca Ranieri, a footballer who grew up in the youth of Fiorentina and was sent to make his bones on loan before establishing himself in the purple in the last two seasons: "Thank you Joe – his words -. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for your humanity, kindness and empathy. Without you I would not be where I am. I owe you so much. Always with us".
