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33-year-old defender Philippe Mexès came close to joining Fiorentina during last summer's calciomercato, but negotiations were ended abruptly by AC Milan's chairman Silvio Berlusconi, who felt the Frenchman was too important to let slip away to another Serie A club.
Now the French center-back seems to be back on the trading block, and could eventually land in Florence before the end of this transfer window, as reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport. Both teams would benefit from this move: the Rossoneri would offload a Mexès' hefty contract, which depletes the club's coffers at a rate of about 1.8 million per year, while Fiorentina would add depth to their defense, where only Gonzalo Rodríguez and Davide Astori have been reliable at center back so far.
Mexès's incredible collection of highlights in Rossonero: not bad for a defender.
The 33-year-old defender experienced a lot of ups and downs throughout his time at Milan. He scored some pretty amazing goals, like the incredible bicycle kick strike against Anderlecht, but he also exhibited certain anger management problems, as evidenced by his 16 red cards throughout his entire career. These, er, rage issues could be the primary reason why Milan has opted to call time on his tenure in their colours.