Silly season is officially upon us. Time to take a snapshot at every team to see what their payroll looks like, who’s expiring and take a guess at what they might be up to this year. Finaly a rating to see how ready they are for next season right now. This is just the first snapshot. We will revisit monthly and see how teams evolve through the summer. Without further ado… let’s WHIP IT AROUND!
Ratings
INTER
INTER
2023-24 PAYROLL: 2ND 119 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: Cuadrado, Sanchez, Sensi, Klassen, Di Gennaro all expire. Arnautovic’s loan ends as does Augusto’s. Frattesi is technically on loan but will be bought this summer from Sassuolo. Total payroll savings of about 22 million.
THOUGHTS: None of those expiring deals will be renewed. The loans of Frattesi, Arnautovic and Augosto’s deals are a good chunk of money (42 million) committed for a team who’s financial situation is somewhat in limbo. They already have Zielinski and Tahremi committed. Both older players likely on high salaries. They are winning but haven’t turned a profit in 4+ years now. Best case scenario they hold steady and bring in some loanees or free players to steady the ship. Worst case they have to sell off a piece or 2 like say a Barella or Lautaro and do little else. It’s possible it’s a very quiet summer for the defending champs. They were smart to get a lot of business done ahead of the summer. Selling big names and replacing them with loanees or free agents is a dangerous game, BUT Inter has done it as well as anyone the last few years. As their roster stands they could go into week 1 as is and still be the favorites to win the league.
MILAN
MILAN
2023-24 PAYROLL: 4TH 83 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: Caldara, Giroud, Kjaer, Jovic and Mirante all expire. Total payroll savings of about 16 million.
THOUGHTS: Over the last 5 years Milan have managed to turn a profit AND be regulars in Europe WITHOUT having increasing payroll. It was actually higher 10 years ago when the red and black were neck deep in the Banter Era. Milan only lose 1 actual starter and will have about 100 million to spend. After replenishing depth last summer this is probably the year to buy 2-3 really shiny pieces for the squad. Job number one being a striker. Keep in mind next summer the only expiring deals are Calabria and Florenzi. That means most of this team here for at least the next 2 years.
JUVENTUS
JUVENTUS
2023-24 PAYROLL: 1ST 125 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: Sandro, Rabiot, Bonucci and Alcaraz all expire. Total payroll svaings of about 24 million.
THOUGHTS: Sandro and Rabiot both represent a huge savings but are also 2 very big losses. Rabiot has been the workhorse of the midfield the last 2 years. Will he stay? Hard to say considering Juve will try and low ball him and he could get offered a fat 5 year deal elsewhere. Sandro is likely out. There’s not real obvious replacements in house. An Arthur return perhaps? With FFP bearing down that likely means a situation where they would have to sell a piece to bring in a piece. Chiesa seems an obvious candidate. He expires next year. I could see a guy like Milik moving as well as having 2 hold up strikers like that is a luxury they neither need or may be able to afford. With Motta coming in expect a lot of changes. Next summer might be the bigger summer for change though. 10 more players are marked to expire next summer who will free up about 60 million in cap space. Also might see a lot of them loaned out or sold for peanuts this summer just to get them off the books early.
ATALANTA
ATALANTA
2023-24 PAYROLL: 8TH 44 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: De Roon, Hateboer and Palomino all expire. The loans of CDK and Holm also expire. Total payroll savings of about 8 million.
THOUGHTS: I imagine CDK and Holm are both bought. With money coming in for Europa and CL it would be surprising if they weren’t. De Roon, Hateboer and Palomino are all long term contributors but they are all north of 30. I imagine De Room returns. Not sure about the others. Anything else they do will be interesting. Do they continue the plan that got them here or do they actually start spending some money? The payroll has already creeped up to 8th so they are spending AND profitable. Do they allow that to creep up a little further in order to become larger players in Europe or not? If they sell guys like Koopmeiners and Ederson and open the purse strings they will have a war chest to spend. Big summer for Gasperini and the next phase of the project. I have a feeling he wouldn’t have stuck around if they weren’t ready to take the next step.
BOLOGNA
BOLOGNA
2023-24 PAYROLL: 15TH 26 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: De Silvestri, Lykogiannis and Soumaoro all expire. Saelemaekers, Kristiansen and Odgaard were all on loan. Total payroll savings of about 6 million.
THOUGHTS: The expiring deals aren’t big losses. Odgaard has already been redeemed. I imagine Saelemaekers will too. They are also bringing in Freuler for good from Forest. Kristiansen will be interesting as he was on loan from Leicester who just got promoted to the EPL. Bologna will need some depth next year if they are to compete in CL in any way. That probably means selling off Zirksee and building some depth. It might have meant selling Ferguson but he’s now hurt. That’s a killer as they can’t sell him so they don’t have the funds but he also isn’t playing. A double whammy. Making the right decisions will be key as Bologna are new to this level. They don’t have the experience Atalanta has but appear headed down the same path and have a nice role model to follow.
ROMA
ROMA
2023-24 PAYROLL: 3RD 102 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: Spinnazola and Patricio both expire, saving them 10 million. The loans of Lukaku, Sanches, Huijsen, Llorente, Kristiansen, Azmoun and Angelino all expire saving them another 25 million.
THOUGHTS: That’s a lot of savings but also a lot of bodies that played a lot of minutes for Roma last year. About 16000 minutes in fact. Angelino has been redeemed so that’s a start. He’s already 27 though. They really need to get younger and cheaper. Of their top 10 guys in minutes last year none are under 24. Goals scored by guys 24 or younger? 4. If this were an American team I would say tank and build through the draft. Clear out all the vets and dead wood. Let all those loans expire. Don’t pursue Lukaku. Sell Abraham. Sell Dybala. This is Roma though. They will continue trying to compete on 2 fronts while dodging FFP as best they can and falling short. Million dollar dreams on a 10 cent budget. Unless there is a real change mark them down for 6th place and about 60 points again next year. This is what happens when you only think about today and never even look forward to tomorrow much less next season.
LAZIO
LAZIO
2023-24 PAYROLL: 6TH 74 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: Guendozi, Anderson, Pedro, Sepi and Lombardi all expire. Total payroll savings of about 15 million.
THOUGHTS: Lazio are facing a lot of turnover over the next 2 years with almost half the squad expiring. Striker is iffy as Castellanos still can’t score and Immobile is starting to show his age. The good thing is the back line is still strong and Provedel is a life saver in goal. Guendouzi has been redeemed so that’s a start. Kamada looked like he was on the way out a few months ago but then Tudor revived him. NOW there’s news that Lotito doesn’t like Kamada so Kamada is headed to England which might also mean the Tudor experiment is already over. LOLOLOLAZIO! I have no idea how people remain fans of this club. Funny thing is no matter how crazy their summers are… they find a wy to squeeze back into Europe.
FIORENTINA
FIORENTINA
2023-24 PAYROLL: 7TH 55 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: Bonaventura, Castrovili, Duncan and Kouame. Also the loans of Belotti, Arthur, Faroni and Lopez expire. Total payroll savings of about 17 million.
THOUGHTS: That’s a lot of minutes for a lot of players that played a lot of minutes walking out the door. I imagine Arthur and Belotti will be back. They seemed to fit well. Castrovili and Kouame would have been unthinkable at one point but here we are. Italiano is out so a lot of decisions will have to be made. Seems like a good landing spot for Palladino who did amazing things with a Monza team that was barely above replacement level. We shall see. Not having Europa hurts. Gotta feel like Groundhogs Day for their fans. Like Roma competing on all these fronts only to sacrifice table position might not be the way to go. Gonna be an interesting summer for a team that might just be looking for a new identity.
TORINO
TORINO
2023-24 PAYROLL: 9TH 37 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: Rodriguez and Djidji both expire. The loans of Zapata, Masina, Lovato and Okereke are all up. Total payroll savings of about 12 million.
THOUGHTS: Rodriguez and Djidji both played a fair bit but are aging defenders. Zapata has been secured for good and at a lower salary. The big question here is who replaces Juric as coach. He’s done an amazing job getting a 14th-15th place team to 9th and 10th place finishes the last few years. He’s done that with stellar defense and by turning their home into a fortress. If Buongiorno goes then the whole backline needs to be replaced. Getting Perr Schurrs back from injury will help. Whoever gets this job will have some work to do but there are pieces in place to succeed.
NAPOLI
NAPOLI
2023-24 PAYROLL: 5TH 82 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: Zielinski, Demme, Meret and Ostigard all expire. The loans for Dendoncker, Traore and Gollini expire as well. Total payroll savings of about 23 million.
THOUGHTS: Zielinski agreed to terms with Inter a month ago so he is gone. Meret will extend for a year so expect him back…though I’m not sure that’s a good thing. The rest are probably all out the door. Conte is coming in and he likes to pick his own guys. Expect massive changes. I’d be surprised if Meret is more than a backup. Expect Osimhen to be sold and a complete overhaul of the backline and for sure a new striker. Conte wants Lukaku. Oof. Until Osimhen is sold I wouln’t expect much…but then it will be an avalanche of change. Personally if I’m offered 100 for Kvara (which I think is total BS) and 150 for Osimhen then I’m selling Kvara. LWers are a dime a dozen right now. Hold on to your pants Napoli fans. The Conte roller coaster is getting ready to take off and you know that first hill is a doozy.
GENOA
GENOA
2023-24 PAYROLL: 11TH 31 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: Strootman, Haps, Bani, Ekuban, Martinez and Galdams all expire. As do the loans of Cittadini, Vitinha, Thorsby, Bohinen, De Winter and Spence. That accounts for almost half their payroll.
THOUGHTS De Winter, Thorsby and Bohinen have already been redeemed. That’s 3 significant regulars right there. Martinez will be a big loss in goal as he has attracted interest from several big clubs. The big question will be what happens with Gudmundsson. The 26 year old Icelandic striker is attracting big interest. If he is moved that should fund Genoa’s whole market and allow them to reload. I don’t think Gilardino is going anywhere which will also help.
MONZA
MONZA
2023-24 PAYROLL: 14TH 28 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS: Caldirola and 2 others expire. However 8 guys on loan expire: Maldini, Colombo, Akpro, Gori, Zerbin, Kyriakopolis, Carboni and Gomez.
THOUGHTS Kyriakopolis has already been extended. The rest are kind of up in the air. Maldini had some nice moments but played just under 600 minutes. Colombo once again didn’t really stake his claim and eventually lost the starting job to Djuric. Colpani, Pessina and Djuric all return which has the offense in decent hands. They will likely lose De Gregorio in goal but that should help fund a lot of moves. Palladino must be replaced. Is Baroni from Hellas an option? Seems strange Palladino is going after the work he’s done but Fiorentina is a nice bump up the stature ladder. Expect the usual late window maneuvering by Galliani. Lots of players on the cheap and a last minute swoop or 2 for some difference makers on loan.
HELLAS VERONA
HELLAS VERONA
2023-24 PAYROLL: 19TH 22 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS 13 players expire. I’m not listing them all. Sorry. That accounts for about 15 million in payroll.
THOUGHTS Of those expiring expect Noslin and Folorunsho to rejoin Suslov in attack. I’d also be shocked if Lazovic ever leaves. Serdar has already been signed from Hertha and should once again be a regular in the midfield. Bonazzoli will certainly remain in Serie A. Maybe just not here. The biggest question might be Baroni, the coach. There are a lot of jobs open in Serie A and he will be a candidate for all of them. If history tells us anything, Hellas will start slow, blow it up in January and make a furious run to avoid relegation in the spring. What does that mean for the summer window? Your guess is as good as mine.
LECCE
LECCE
2023-24 PAYROLL: 20TH 16 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS Denaku expires. Almqvist, Piccoli and Touba have their loans end. That’s only 1.5 million of payroll.
THOUGHTS Almqvist was interesting as a solid 1v1 player on the wing. He might stay. Lecce have done a good job of identifying and locking up their importance pieces long term. That ability to keep this group together is a big part of what has kept them up. A big part of that was extending Falcone long term. Last summer they sold Hjulmand and reloaded just fine. This summer that might be Ramadani or Banda. Don’t expect anything crazy as they will continue their project as is.
UDINESE
UDINESE
2023-24 PAYROLL: 16TH 24 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS Pereyra expires and the loans of Lucca and Ferreira come to an end. That accounts for about 9 million in payroll.
THOUGHTS Pereyra is a loss if he leaves. At 33 though an extension would make sense. Lucca is attracting interest from all over Italy so I imagine Pisa cashes in on him to the highest bidder. Samardzic was almost gone last year and certainly will be this year. That’s 3 important pieces from a group that otherwise comes back intact. A group that underachieved all year and barely survived. Also a group that is quite young and has room to grow. Okoye in goal was a steal from Watford and should be solid again next year. At 24 he may eventually see a huge move elsewhere. He’s already the Nigerian NT starter in goal. Cannavaro is saying all the right things about being there long term though his appointment was only officially through the end of the season. If they can turn some of those 19 draws into wins they get to 50 points real fast. A team to watch this summer.
CAGLIARI
CAGLIARI
2023-24 PAYROLL: 13TH 29 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS Nandez, Mancosu, Viola, Pavoletti and Aresti all expire. The loans of Petagna, Shomorudov, Oristanio and Gaetano all end as well. That accounts for about 12 million in payroll.
THOUGHTS Cagliari were an aging squad with a really high payroll for a newly promoted team. Not sure that’s sustainable for them. They will shed a lot of that this summer but some of these guys they may want back. Nandez followed them down and back up. He’s been a stalwart for them for years. Pavoletti and Deoosena are aging but still useful. Gaetano will be a massive loss but with Conte coming to Napoli perhaps they can extend him. Hard to say. Unlike some of the other lower tier teams in Serie A, they don’t go into the summer with a shiny piece to sell. That will make it hard for whoever the new coach is. Can definitely see them right back in the relegation scrap next year. Might be the perfect Juric landing spot.
EMPOLI
EMPOLI
2023-24 PAYROLL: 17TH 23 MILLION
EXPIRING DEALS Empoli have 14 players either expiring or having their loans end this summer. That accounts for about 12 million in payroll.
THOUGHTS How reliant were Empoli on players on loan last year? Six of their starters in the final game for survival this year (Destro, Maleh, Marin, Bastoni, Bereszynski, Caprile) were on loan. For those counting that’s a striker, the whole midfield, a CB and the keeper. Fortnately they have already securd Maleh and another midfielder, Zurkowski, this summer. There is also word that late season hero M’baye Niang is being extended as well. They also have Luperto, Gyasi and Ismajli in the fold. So they might not be in terrible shape. Thing is with Como, Parma and Venezia all coming up pretty loaded they will once again be fighting for their lives.
Final Thoughts
Serie A will feature a ton of new coaches with new ideas in place next fall. Should make for an interesting merry go round of coaches, tactics and players. Can’t wait to see where we go from here!
Enjoy the Calcio silly season!
Lisi