Robbie Neilson namechecks £40m Fiorentina trio threat and plays down Hearts must-not-lose tag
The Italians have spent in excess of £300million since the 2017/18 season, amassing 16 internationalists. Despite such investment, last season's seventh place was their highest finish since 2016. They are currently on a run of one win in ten games.
Neilson, however, is wary of the quality which Vincenzo Italiano’s team possess, including forwards Arthur Cabral and Christian Kouame and midfield playmaker Sofyan Amrabat, the trio costing around £40million.
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Hide Ad“Kouame up front has pace, whether he plays or (Arthur) Cabral, two top strikers,” he said.
“I really like Sofyan (Amrabat) in the middle, top player. There are loads of players within that group that we’ll have to watch.”
Hearts go into Thursday’s match sitting second in Group A behind İstanbul Başakşehir.
The double header with Fiorentina, who sit 11th in Serie A, will go some way to deciding the team likely to finish as runner-up.
Neilson rejected the idea Thursday's fixture is a must-not-lose match.
"No, I don't think so, he said. “We are sitting in a good position with three points already and we still have a number of games left. It's a game we are looking forward to. We would like to take three points but we understand it's going to be a very difficult game.
“We have the atmosphere at Tynecastle, our home crowd, our home pitch and we need to focus on that first.
"If we can get something out of the game, three points would be fantastic, it would be great to take over to Italy.”
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