Jovetic’s Lecce return collapsed after Corvino’s departure
Stefan Jovetic says a return to Serie A with Lecce was close this summer, but the move fell through when Pantaleo Corvino left the club. The former Fiorentina…
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Stefan Jovetic says a return to Serie A with Lecce was close this summer, but the move fell through when Pantaleo Corvino left the club. The former Fiorentina forward had visited Lecce’s stadium and facilities and wanted to make the move happen.
“We were quite far along with Lecce,” Jovetic told Gazzetta dello Sport. “I would have liked to return to Serie A.” He said Corvino’s departure changed the course of the talks: “Then Pantaleo left and nothing came of it.”
The proposed move would have brought Jovetic back to Italy nearly 20 years after he joined Fiorentina. Corvino had been the figure who brought him to Florence, beating competition from several clubs, including Juventus. Jovetic said Juventus approached him twice, but he rejected them both times because he did not want to make that move to Fiorentina supporters.
“Firenze, what a dream,” he said of his time at the club. Jovetic also remembered his relationship with Cesare Prandelli, whom he described as a “footballing father”, and praised Sinisa Mihajlovic for calling him during an injury and telling him he would return stronger. His memories of Florence also include Champions League goals and nights involving Liverpool.
Inter had made an approach much earlier in his career. Jovetic said the club spoke with his family in a car park after a youth tournament where he had been named best player. That move did not happen then; he and Inter crossed paths again a decade later.
Jovetic’s account also puts the Lecce talks in the context of a career shaped by missed opportunities and injuries. He said he turned down Real Madrid after his second season in Florence, then suffered a cruciate injury ten days later and lost a season. At Manchester City, he recalled being afraid of getting injured again before matches.
The Lecce move would have offered the former Viola striker a return to the league where his Italian career began. Instead, with Corvino gone, the talks did not produce a deal—and Jovetic’s Serie A return did not materialise.
