Federico Bernardeschi has what it takes to play for Barcelona, according to his Fiorentina teammate Davide Astori, who hopes he will stay in Florence for many years to come.
It was reported by Mundo Deportivo earlier in the week that Barca have already cast a glance at Bernardeschi, who has impressed in the Viola attack this season as a regular starter under Paulo Sousa.
His three goals in four Europa League appearances have helped further the Italian club's progress in that competition, and Astori believes Barca have spotted a player who would fit into their squad well.
However, Astori wants Bernardeschi to remain at Fiorentina and help them be successful over the coming years.
"He's going to be [good enough for Barcelona]," Astori told Gazzetta dello Sport. "We were joking with him about it yesterday, asking him to say 'hi' to [Lionel] Messi from us. He's got talent and the right head on his shoulders, and he's improving gradually. He could make history with Fiorentina, though, and I hope he sticks with us for a while."
One of the stars in Italy's under-21 side, Bernardeschi may also become a candidate for a place in the senior squad for the European Championship next summer.
"Why not?" Astori said. "That would be great, and there are five or six places still up for grabs. I hope to get one of them also."
Bernardeschi and Astori are doing their chances no harm this season, with Fiorentina currently just two points behind Serie A leaders Napoli.
"We can talk about the Scudetto -- it's not a taboo word," Astori said. "Saying it does not do you any bad. It's easy to say, even if the significance of it can be crushing, but we must not have any fear.
"The coach is giving us a philosophy and it is not only the quality of the players which is leading us to victories, but also this mentality. Whoever plays at Fiorentina has got to fight to make the breakthrough. It's got to be like this. We need a leader who can manage us and [Sousa] does that, without getting carried away.
Napoli's 18-game unbeaten streak in all competitions came to an end after losing 3-2 at Bologna in a nail-biting contest at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.
Mattia Destro's brace either side of Luca Rossettini's first-half goal looked to have put the game to bed but Gonzalo Higuain scored two goals in the final three minutes of normal time to set up a tense finish.
However, the hosts held on to move up to 15th while Napoli missed the opportunity to leapfrog Inter Milan at the top of the Serie A table.
That result also allowed Fiorentina to climb above Napoli and take second place in the table with a 3-0 win at home to Udinese, thanks to goals from Milan Badelj, Josip Ilicic and Gonzalo Rodriguez.
Paulo Sousa's men are now one point behind Inter. Their next league engagement sees them visit bitter rivals Juventus and victory there, coupled with a poor result for Inter at Udinese, would take the Tuscans top.
Badelj's opener arrived in the 26th minute, the Croatian midfielder blasting Edenilson's poor clearance against the legs of team-mate Nikola Kalinic to wrong-foot Udinese goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.
The second came when Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu brought Kalinic down in the box and Ilicic gladly obliged from the penalty spot. Fiorentina then piled bodies forward at an 86th-minute corner and it was Argentinian defender Rodriguez who rose highest to nod the ball beyond Karnezis.
AC Milan's bid to muscle into the title race hit a snag as they were held to agoalless draw at Carpi.
The Rossoneri had won four of their last six matches to climb back into contention for European football but Sunday night's stalemate at the Stadio Alberto Braglia proves they have a long way to go before restoring former glories.
Indeed promoted Carpi -- now in double figures for the season -- enjoyed the better chances of a balanced encounter, with former Milan striker Marco Borriello going closest to beating Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Ten-man Atalanta reached sixth place following a 3-0 home humbling ofPalermo.
In-form striker German Denis grabbed the opener in the 18th minute when smashing home Marten de Roon's rebound.
The second goal came from Nicolo Cherubin, the defender heading the ball beyond Stefano Sorrentino from a corner in the 25th minute.
Atalanta did lose Guido Migliaccio to a red card midway through the second half but quickly made amends as De Roon found Sorrentino's bottom corner with a left-footed screamer.
Frosinone wasted an opportunity to climb out of the relegation zone when going down 2-0 to Chievo.
Palermo's thrashing at Atalanta meant promoted Frosinone would have left the bottom three with victory at the Stadio Matusa, but they failed to make their dominance in the final third count.
Chievo waited until their hosts were tired from peppering their goal to strike twice at the end, Alberto Paloschi converting a penalty in the 89th minute and Riccardo Meggiorini converting his teammate's pass four minutes later.
The Flying Donkeys did lose Simone Pepe to a red card on the stroke of full-time, but fatigued Frosinone could not exploit their one-man advantage.
Sassuolo stunned Sampdoria 3-1 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris to move back into the race for a Europa League place.
The Neroverde dominated throughout and Francesco Acerbi opened the scoring with a deflected goal inside eight minutes.
Sergio Floccari soon tucked away Sime Vrsaljko's cross while goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano was on the ground.
Teenager Lorenzo Pellegrini, 19, made it 3-0 with his first Serie A goal six minutes before half-time, the young Sassuolo midfielder beating Viviano by converting his own blocked shot.
Samp scored a consolation through Ervin Zukanovic on the stroke of full-time.
Luigi Delneri's reign as Hellas Verona boss began as his predecessor Andrea Mandorlini's ended -- with a defeat.
Andrea Costa's 61st-minute strike proved enough to earn Empoli a 1-0 victoryat the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, condemning basement boys Hellas to their ninth loss of the season.
The former Parma defender was quick to react when Verona goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini pushed his first headed attempt back into play.
