Tolu Arokodare: Three Italian clubs Super Eagles striker can join after rejecting Fiorentina

Tolu Arokodare has turned down the opportunity to join Fiorentina, with the Super Eagles striker unimpressed by the Viola’s loan proposal as he seeks a move following Wolverhampton Wanderers’ relegation from the English Premier League, Afrik Foot reports.

The 25-year-old finds himself at a significant crossroads this summer. Wolves’ drop to the Championship has made his departure from Molineux all but inevitable.

César Peixoto’s arrival as head coach, the return of Raul Jimenez and the presence of Sasa Kalajdzic have raised the level of competition in the Wolves squad, leaving Arokodare with no realistic pathway to regular first-team football in the EFL Championship in the coming season.

He joined Wolves for €26 million last summer with Premier League ambitions, and staying in the Championship is not a scenario that serves his development or saves a place for him in the Super Eagles squad heading into Nigeria’s AFCON 2027 qualification campaign.

Italy has emerged as a potential destination, and the rejection of Fiorentina’s approach is the first significant indication of what the striker is looking for. The Viola finished 15th in the Italian Serie A last season, and Arokodare would be looking to avoid demotion with his club for two straight seasons.

That he turned them down suggests his ambitions, or perhaps his assessment of Fiorentina’s specific proposal, pointed elsewhere. Three Italian clubs with stronger credentials now present themselves as compelling alternatives.

Three Italian clubs Tolu Arokodare can join after rejecting Fiorentina

1. Juventus

The Turin giants are rebuilding their attacking department after parting ways with Dusan Vlahovic.

They currently have Jonathan David, Lois Openda and Arkadiusz Milik on their books, but none of them boasts the prolificity of what the Bianconeri would need to compete on all fronts in the coming season.

Luciano Spalletti’s side have always longed for strikers that are physically imposing, capable of holding the ball against elite defenders, dangerous in the air and direct in transition, and that maps closely onto what Arokodare can provide at his best.

Juventus’s interest would represent the most high-profile move of Arokodare’s career by some distance, offering Champions League football and an environment that’ll stretch his game to the maximum.

The risk is the same one that any striker faces at a club like Juventus’s demands; the pressure to perform immediately is intense, and a player still adapting to a new country and a new system has a very small window of grace to adapt.

2. AS Roma

The Giallorossi have a track record of acquiring players from outside Serie A and integrating them to become top-level players.

Chris Smalling, Evan N’Dicka, Donyell Malen, and Angelino are all examples of Roma’s trade in recent years.

The Wolves will also be participating in the UEFA Champions League, giving Arokodare the platform to play football on the biggest stage.

3. Atalanta

Maurizio Sarri will take charge of La Dea in the coming season. They’ve built one of the most distinctive tactical systems in European football.

The Bergamo club’s 3-4-3 demands enormous physical output from their centre-forward, but also rewards those demands with the kind of service and collective organisation that makes the striker’s job easier when the system is functioning correctly.

Arokodare’s profile, especially with his ability to hold up play, means he’s capable of creating space for teammates through his runs, which is the kind of raw material that could turn into gold in the Italian Serie A.