Franco Mastantuono's Hat-Trick Shatters Messi's Record in Serie A

Franco Mastantuono tore up a page of Lionel Messi’s record book in Venice – and did it in the colours of Fiorentina.

The Argentine winger hit a hat-trick in a 4-2 win away to Venezia, becoming the youngest Argentine ever to score three in a game in one of Europe’s top five leagues. At 19 years and 28 days, he stripped almost eight months off a mark Messi had held since 2007.

Messi’s first hat-trick came on 10 March 2007 in the Clasico against Real Madrid, a stage and an opponent that still glitter in the memory. Mastantuono’s came in a very different setting, but the numbers are cold and clear: he is 231 days younger than Messi was when he first took home a match ball.

A two-minute turnaround

Fiorentina looked in trouble at the break. A goal down, fragile, and still searching for their first point of the new Serie A season.

Then Mastantuono exploded.

He needed just 98 seconds after the restart to flip the game on its head, striking twice in a blur to turn 0-1 into 2-1. Two ruthless finishes, two punches that Venezia never really recovered from.

Fiorentina grew in confidence, stretched the game, and when the clock ticked into the 84th minute, the teenager stepped up again. His third goal finally killed the contest, pushing the visitors into a 4-1 lead before Venezia pulled one back late to shape the final 4-2 scoreline.

For Fiorentina, it was not just their first victory of the new campaign. These were their first points of the season, full stop.

Vanoli’s swift return, Grosso’s swift exit

The night belonged to Mastantuono, but the dugout carried its own story.

Paolo Vanoli, the coach who had kept Fiorentina in Serie A last season, was shown the door in the summer. In his place came 2006 World Cup winner Fabio Grosso, a romantic appointment on paper that unravelled almost immediately.

Three games, three defeats, a goal difference of 1:9. That was enough for the club hierarchy. Grosso was dismissed, and Vanoli was rushed back to the Florence bench in the past week.

His first game back? This trip to Venice. His first result? A statement win, driven by a 19-year-old who suddenly looks ready for centre stage.

Real Madrid’s €45m question

Behind all of this sits Real Madrid.

Mastantuono joined Los Blancos from River Plate in 2025 for a transfer fee of €45 million. The numbers since then have been modest: 35 appearances in all competitions, averaging just 42 minutes per outing, with three goals and one assist. Enough to be noticed, not enough to truly convince.

So Madrid sent him on loan to Fiorentina until next summer, hoping regular football in Serie A would sharpen his edges.

One night in Venice, he scored as many league goals as he had managed in his entire Real Madrid career.

The fee is already on the books: €45 million. The real question now is how much that number will look like a bargain – or a burden – by the time he walks back through the doors at the Bernabéu.