Well, I guess Montolivo is better option than Ekdal or Marrone for example, though I dont see him as "one of the 3 or 4 champions" we`re supposed to sign this summer. It is true that his contract runs out in june 2012, Fiorentina are going to be out of Europe for 2nd year in a row so some of their players may want to leave and find another club. I think Montolivo for sure will leave in summer, his price shouldnt be very high, and if the reports are true that Fio are interested in some of our players (Martinez, Tiago, etc...) we can use them in a deal... I guess if we are going to sign an italian midfielder, our options are more than clear - Montolivo, Cigarini and Poli...
To sign player like Montolivo, we definitely need to offload some crap like Momo and Tiago first. Same goes for our attack, where we need to get rid of Amauri and Iaquinta to sign "a champion".