Tariq Lamptey’s Fiorentina Gamble Ends Early

Tariq Lamptey’s Fiorentina gamble is set to end almost before it began.

The Ghana international, who arrived in Tuscany last summer on a three-year deal, is close to a mutual contract termination with Fiorentina, according to reports in Italy. La Gazzetta dello Sport report that the club and player are in advanced talks to cut ties after just a single, injury-ravaged season.

It is a brutal twist for a defender who left the Premier League seeking a fresh start. Lamptey joined Fiorentina with one year left on his contract at Brighton and Hove Albion, having previously come through the ranks at Chelsea and briefly lit up English football with his explosive pace and aggressive attacking from right-back.

Italy was supposed to be the reset. A new league, a new rhythm, a chance to finally put persistent fitness problems behind him.

Instead, the same story followed him to Serie A.

Lamptey managed only two appearances in Viola colours. His debut came off the bench in a home defeat to Napoli, a low-key introduction but at least a first step. The real blow landed in late September. Handed his first start against Como, he lasted just 21 minutes before rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.

From there, the season effectively ended before it had begun.

For Fiorentina, the calculation is harsh but simple. A foreign slot and a significant wage tied to a player whose body has repeatedly betrayed him. For Lamptey, staying would mean fighting uphill against both injury and depth chart, with little guarantee of regular football.

The expected termination would leave the 25-year-old a free agent at the end of a deeply troubling 2025/26 campaign, staring at another crossroads in a career that once seemed destined only to rise.