Riccardo Saponara has penned a heartfelt letter to ex-Fiorentina teammate Davide Astori. “Come back, you still have to finish watching La La Land…”
Saponara spent a year playing alongside Astori at Fiorentina, and the former Empoli attacker expressed just how much of an impact the captain had on the Viola.
“O captain, my captain,” he began in an Instagram post.
Riccardo Saponara has penned a heartfelt letter to ex-Fiorentina teammate Davide Astori. “Come back, you still have to finish watching La La Land…”
Saponara spent a year playing alongside Astori at Fiorentina, and the former Empoli attacker expressed just how much of an impact the captain had on the Viola.
“O captain, my captain,” he began in an Instagram post.
“Why didn’t you come down to have breakfast with all of us? Why didn’t you take your shoes out of Marco [Sportiello’s] bedroom and come down to drink your usual orange juice?
“Now they’ll tell us that life goes on, that we must look forward and get up again, but what flavour will your absence have?
“Who will arrive every morning in the cafeteria to warm us with their smile? Who will ask us curiously what we did the night before to laugh about it?
“Who will scold the younger lads and who will be responsible for the more experienced ones?
“Who will form the circle to play ‘two touches’ or who will crush Marco on PlayStation? With whom will we debate episodes of Masterchef, Florentine restaurants, TV series and matches we played in?
“Who will I put my shoulder on at lunch after an tiring workout? Come back, you still have to finish watching La La Land so you can analyse it like any film that’s just come out.
“Come back to Florence, they’re waiting for you to renew your contract and they recognise the good and positive things that you give us all daily.
“Get out of that damn room, we’re waiting for you tomorrow, when training resumes. In life, there are people you have always known but will never bond with.
“Then there are those like Davide, who immediately welcome you with a simple, ‘welcome to Florence, Ricky.’
“Wherever you are now, keep defending our goal and enlighten us on to the right path. O captain, my captain. Forever my captain.”