Southampton were able to sign Manolo Gabbiadini from Napoli in the January transfer window after the Italian club vetoed a move to a Serie A rival, according to the player's agent.
Gabbiadini, 25, has scored three goals in his first two Premier League outings, but he may not have been given an opportunity to play in England had Napoli not told his agent, Silvio Pagliari, that they would not listen to any offers from other Serie A clubs.
The former Sampdoria forward, who ultimately joined Southampton on deadline day for £14.5 million, would have welcomed a move to Fiorentina, but that was out of the question.
"When I met up with president [Aurelio] De Laurentiis before Christmas, I found out that Napoli would never have allowed Manolo to join a rival of theirs, which is why I immediately started looking on the English and German market," Pagliari told Radio Blu.
"I never spoke to [Fiorentina's sporting director Pantaleo] Corvino about Manolo, but Fiorentina would have been a welcome destination for us."
With only a move away from Italy a possibility, Pagliari said finding a suitor was not a simple task.
"I really struggled to find a club for him abroad," he said. "Up until I saw the paperwork signed, I didn't want to believe that he had actually been sold. But we were ready for a challenge overseas and we made the right choice."
Gabbiadini has already scored as many goals in just two appearances for the Saints as he did in 13 games for the Azzurri in the first half of the season.
Capped six times by Italy, Gabbiadini scored a total of 38 in 158 Serie A appearances. His best single-season haul was 15 in 2014-15 -- seven in 13 for Sampdoria and eight in 20 for Napoli.