A quick review of what the top teams in Serie A are up to so afr in the summer transfer window.
Not much to write home about so far for Napoli. It’s more conjecture than fact. First things first Spalletti left and was replaced by Rudi Garcia. A big change but something that was decided way before the season ended. They also completed the signings of Raspadori and Simeone who were both technically on loan last year. They’ve also officially sold Petagna to Monza. The biggest move so far is their sporting director, Cristiano Giuntoli, moving to Juventus. He was a key part of their revolution over the last 2 seasons that led to last years Scudetto. Besides that the only official player movement is Kim Minjae to Bayern for 50 million. Zielinski MIGHT be headed to the Saudis. Or maybe Lobotka. Or perhaps Lozano? Or maybe Lozano to MLS? Lots of smoke there but no fire. They have no expiring contracts this season of consequence so they really have very little to do. It’s truly a situation where if no one leaves there’s probably no one coming in. With the management in flux it could be a very quiet summer. Right now I would consider them to be an incomplete. They are however in a position to either add one big piece OR sign several of these guys to extensions keeping in a great position for years to come. Certainly Osimhen would be first up.
Like Napoli a very quiet start to the summer. Coming off a second place finish it looked like they might give Sarri some more pieces but otherwise stick with the plan. Then a bomb went off. After years of rumors Milinkovic-Savic was finally sold. To who? Juve? Milan? Inter? NO. The Saudis swooped in and claimed him for 40 million. A steal for arguably the best Serie A midfielder of the last 5 years. There’s no real backup for him and with an aging lineup including Immobile (32) and Alberto (30), both of whom have been mentioned in Saudi links. The only incoming guy of note has been Taty Castellanos from MLS of all places. Don’t let the lack of recognizable names fool you though. Last summer they brought in a raft of mostly unknowns and built one of the best defenses in the league. As the dust settles from big names moving they will start to do their business.
The team with the most work to do has been at it since day 1. No rest for the Coppa and SuperCoppa winners. Coming into this summer they had 14 contracts expiring. None too brutal but a lot of bodies to replace. They quickly went in and re-signed Acerbi and redeemed Asllani and signed Marcus Thuram. Then in a great bit of business they unloaded Brozovic’s MASSIVE contract and replaced him with Frattesi from Sassulo. Just like that they were younger and drove salaries way down. Getting big offers for Onana was expected but selling him not so much. Again they seem prepared. He has now gone to Man United for around 60 million. They plan to replace him with Yann Sommer and Trubin, a young Ukrainian. Sommer will be an adequate fill in while they expect Trubin to make the leap to the #1 spot within the next year or so. They knew they had work to do and executed their plan incredibly well. The only mystery now is what happens up top. Dzeko is gone. Lukaku was gone, but then he was back, but then he was going to Juve but now maybe he’s coming back? Also they are trying to dump Correa on SOMEONE… ANYONE. Good luck. With the rest of the team sorted AND Lautaro still in the fold it’s not a huge deal but at the same time no one wants a cloud like this lingering. STILL I’m gonna mark them as favorites, if only slightly, ahead of Napoli.
UPDATE: They signed noted flopper and garbage man Cuadrado from Juve. That first Juve-Inter game is gonna be bonkers…
Come back for Monday’s all inclusive update!
Quiet so far but rumors abound. Like Napoli they have no contracts of consequence expiring so they don’t HAVE to do anything. They will, it’s just a matter of time. They still have a ton of aging parts like Toloi, De Roon, Zapata, Muriel and Hateboer. Even their ‘youngsters’ Koopmeiners and Lookman both turn 25 this year. If and when Hojlund is sold to Man U I imagine we start seeing the changes come. Could Scalvini go? I doubt it. I don’t think he’s ready for the big time yet and when he is the big Italian clubs might have trouble affording him. He’s still only 18. They’ve already added 2 defenders in Bakker and Kolasinac. One young and one older. Both will help solidify a backline and the left wing spot. With only a month to go til games start, expect them to start moving pieces soon.
UPDATE: Hojlund is still an Atalanta player. So are most of the vets. Until that first domino tumbles they aren’t gonna do much. When it does though expect a flurry of action.
Had some big salaries come off the books in Matic, SES and Wijnaldum. Replaced them almost immediately by signing Aouar and Ndicka on free deals right off the bat. Aouar was the next big thing a few years ago when he was being shopped around Europe for 50-60 million. Two years later he’s going on a free to Roma. Either incredibly shrewd business or something they will regret in a few years. Time will tell. Ndicka is a big, strong defender that played in a 3 back at Frankfurt and should slide right in. He was a target of Milan and others last summer but ultimately decided to play out his contract to go on a free. Will slot right in to the Roma back 3. They’ve also brought in Kristensen from Leeds who should slot in at that RWB slot. It’s not a ton of business but it’s 3 pieces that should play right away. It will be interesting to see if they do anything at keeper or striker. Patricio was horrendous at times between the sticks and Abraham had a down year up top. For Abraham it was probably a blip but they need something better at keeper. Could a vet like Lloris or De Gea be in the cards?
UPDATE: Like Atalanta just kind of standing pat. Lot’s of smoke around the striker spot but like Galliani used to say, someone must go for another to come on. Abraham had a down year so his value is not there. Belotti was worse and they gave him bonkers wages. They need something there but I don’t see how. They are heavily linked to Morata, who i think would be perfect for them, but again someone would have to go. Shoring up the defense is great but scoring was the real problem last year. I wouldn’t hold my breath for any help.
Where to start….. hmmm. As mentioned above they have a new sporting director in Giuntoli. According to reports his first order of business is to clear 140 million this summer. Problem is they already spent 77 million on Kean, Locatelli, Weah and Milik before he even walked in the door. It helps they made 30 million on selling Kulusevski to Spurs but that is still a huge number to make up. They also have some bonkers salaries on the books with Vlahovic (13) Bonucci (12) Szczesny (12) Sandro (11) Pogba (11) Chiesa (9) Bremer (9) and Rabiot (9) all due to be making 9 million or more this year. That’s 8 guys making 86 million. You can’t move those salaries in Italy so really your only bet is to sell them to the EPL or the Saudis. Did I mention they also have Arthur, Mckennie and Zakaria coming back from loan deals? That’s a 28 man squad full of crazy salaries and NO EUROPE this year. Another problem they have is that EVERYONE knows they need to sell. Just to move some of these salaries Juve is gonna have to take pennies on the dollars to get these guys out. That will make it hard to hit that magic number of 140 that they supposedly need to get to. You ask me there’s only one real solution to get there and not gut the entire squad. Talk to Pogba. Convince him of the Saudi project. Hopefully pawn him off for something like 100 million. Giuntoli will have his work cut out for him. Fortunately Mad Max will go to war with anyone and has no soft spot for players. One day we are gonna wake up and the fire sale will be on. Who stays? Who goes? Stay tuned. One thing for sure, I wouldn’t believe any rumors on anyone actually coming in. It’s all about selling first. Right now their rating is a one. Ball is in Giuntoli’s court.
UPDATE: Giuntoli’s trying to sell off the trash but there are no takers. The rumored Arthur deal to Fiorentina is a joke. Fiorentina are gonna pay 2 million for him with an 18 million option AND Jyuve is gonna pick up half his wages? LOL. That’s doing nothing for the bottom line which still SUPPOSEDLY needs to see 180 million in sales. Even if they sold Vlahovic Chiesa AND Pogba they might have trouble getting there. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place and I’m not sure where they go from here. Strangely rumors abound of them going after all kinds of people. I wouldn’t believe any of them. It’s a garage sale and unfortunately for them no one has showed up to sift through their junk.
OFFSEASON POWER RANKINGS
INTER A decision at striker away from being the clear favorites.
NAPOLI Scudetto winners standing pat
MILAN Making the sort of moves everyone is applauding
JUVE Never count out Max
ROMA If they can’t score you can forget top 4
LAZIO What will year 3 of Sarri ball look like?
ATALANTA Still need a lot of refreshing.
FORZA MILAN!!!
Lisi
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