Fiorentina beat off competition from both Aston Villa and West Ham to sign Nikola Kalinic from Ukrainian outfit Dnipro, it has emerged.
La Viola were desperate to snap up the Croatia international and eventually succeeded in the winning the race, paying Dnipro a fee of around €5.5m for the 27-year-old.
However, the Serie A side had serious opposition for Kalinic as both Aston Villa and West Ham wanted to take the striker to England.
According to Italian daily Gazzetta dello Sport, the Premier League pair were prepared to pay €1m more than Fiorentina eventually paid.
But Kalinic wanted to play at Fiorentina and under coach Paulo Sousa, something which saw him insist upon a move to La Viola.
Had Kalinic returned to England he would have been no stranger to the English game, having turned out for Blackburn Rovers prior to his switch to Dnipro in 2011.
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The 27-year-old has enjoyed a bright start to his Fiorentina career so far, scoring four goals in six Serie A games and providing his team-mates with a single assist.
Kalinic notched 49 goals in 124 appearances over the course of his time with Dnipro.
