Christian Kouame wished to have scored in long-awaited Fiorentina debut

Christian Kouame has stated he wished he could have gotten a goal on his Fiorentina debut which ended in a goalless draw with Cagliari.

The 22-year-old has been out with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury since November 2019 while on international duty with the Ivory Coast.

He had contributed to eight goals (five goals, three assists) in 11 Serie A outings with Genoa before the injury.

Despite not recovering, he was loaned to Fiorentina in January and used the lockdown period to step up his fitness of which the Viola extended his loan deal until the end of the season.

The former Citadella player came on for Dusan Vlahovic in the 75th minute having made the bench for the first time in the previous match against Parma which ended in a 2-1 away win for the Florence-based club.

“The injury has never been a nightmare for me,” Kouame told Sky Sports Italia.

“If I had managed to score it would have been fantastic: I had dreamed of doing it, but the appointment is only postponed to the next. The choices will then be made by the coach and I will only give 100% in training.

"For me, it's the same, whether I play or someone else. Whoever deserves will play, I'm happy anyway. But when I go out on the pitch, I have to give my best."

In the 15 minutes played, Kouame had one shot on target, 13 touches, three accurate passes (42%), one accurate long ball and won two of three total duels.

Fiorentina boss Giuseppe Lachini says he is happy to have extended Kouame’s loan and will be monitoring his progress closely as he gives the club a “great hand”.

"I am happy to have reviewed it [Kouame’s loan] after the long injury, now let's see,” he told Sky Sports Italia.

“We are monitoring him from time to time. When the injury is so problematic, he must be reintegrated gradually. He can certainly give us a great hand."

Fiorentina are in 13th place on the log, eight points clear of Koaume’s parent club, Genoa, in the relegation zone. They host Europa League-chasing Hellas Verona at the Artemio Franchi on Sunday evening.