As soon as the Italian club Fiorentina realised that their star striker Dusan Vlahovic would not renew his contract and leave the club in January, the club started looking for an ideal replacement. When the Serbian striker had an agreement with Juventus, Fiorentina found the replacement from the Swiss club FC Basel. It was the Brazilian striker Arthur Cabral who many European clubs targeted.
Fiorentina has sold Vlahovic for around 75 million euros, and they have spent approximately 16 million euros plus bonuses for the Brazilian striker. If he adapts soon and starts to score at least half of the goals that Vlahovic scored, then the management would be delighted.
The 23-year-old Brazilian scored 27 goals in 31 competitive games for Swiss outfit FC Basel this season, including 13 in 12 matches between the Europa Conference League and qualifying rounds for this tournament.
FC Basel is also making a profit in this deal. After a season on loan in Switzerland, they signed Cabral from Palmeiras for 6 million euros in 2020. His current contract with Basel is due to expire in June 2023.
Arthur Cabral started his professional career in Brazil with Ceara Sporting Club. Cabral joined Ceara’s youth setup in 2014. He made his first-team debut on 22 July 2015, coming on as a late substitute and scoring a last-minute winner in a 2–1 away victory against Tupi.
In October 2015, Cabral was loaned to Palmeiras and returned to the youth setup. Back to Ceara in the following year, he spent some time in the under-20 squad before being promoted to the first team in the 2017 season. In 2018, Palmeiras officially signed Cabral. His spell with the Brazilian club was not so good in numbers.
He regained his confidence and form when he moved to Switzerland. In 2019, Cabral was loaned to FC Basel in the Swiss Super League for their 2019–20 season under manager Marcel Koller. He made his team debut in the Swiss Cup match on 15 September in the away game against lower-tier FC Meyrin.
He made his domestic league debut on 22 September as Basel played a 1–1 draw with Young Boys in the Stadion Wankdorf. Cabral scored his first goal for his new club in the next league match one week later, on 25 September, as Basel won 4–0 at home against Zurich.
In June 2020, the club announced that Cabral, whose loan had ended, was signed permanently. He scored his first hat-trick for his club on 8 August 2021 against Servette.
Cabral is taking his steps very short composedly. After his success with FC Basel, he did not choose a top European club. He knows that he will need time to adapt to European football, and with Fiorentina, he can establish himself in one of the best leagues and then think of a big move.