And that’s that, then. The summer transfer window is officially over for another four months and Serie A clubs will take stock of their respective situations over the international break, assessing how well they performed on the market.
The importance of the transfer window has mushroomed to the point where clubs need to “deliver” over the summer months, as if spending and selling were a league in and of itself.
For the most part, Italian clubs operated sensibly on the transfer market. Gone are the days when needless vanity signings were made to placate supporters. In the post-pandemic landscape, signing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and offering wages of €30m (£25m) per-season are long gone, or offering free agents like Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey €7m-per-year to join Serie A.
Instead, teams are attempting to be more shrewd and frugal with where their money goes. Economic sustainability has become the name of the game in Serie A (even if this is working out better for some than others).
Five-star Juventus dominate the mercato
There can be little argument that Juventus performed the best on the mercato this summer. Cristiano Giuntoli’s second summer in charge of the Bianconeri brought with it a slew of new signings, in what could be argued was the greatest window the club have had since the days of Luciano Moggi. Wisely, Giuntoli maximised Juve’s youth academy and the decision the club made years ago to produce an Under-23 squad.
He either sold or inserted young talent into deals in order to bring overall costs down and provided Thiago Motta with a strong and young squad that could set Juve up for the next several years.
Douglas Luiz, Khephren Thuram, Teun Koopmeiners, Nico Gonzalez, Pierre Kalulu, Juan Cabal, Michele Di Gregorio and Francisco Conceicao all arrived and Giuntoli’s summer business means Juve now have their strongest midfield since the days of Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio.
Meanwhile, the likes of Rabiot, Alex Sandro and Wojciech Szczesny were let go, saving the club some €35m (£29m) in wages. Federico Chiesa left too, joining Liverpool on deadline day in a deal that could be worth up to €13m (£10m).
Of course it’s too early to say whether any of Juve’s new signings will be roaring successes, but on the surface Giuntoli has produced a masterclass.
Inter, by contrast, were fairly quiet on the transfer market. Piotr Zielinski and Mehdi Taremi had long been expected to join the club on free transfers, and so it proved to be the case. In addition, Inter CEO Beppe Marotta added Spanish goalkeeper Josep Martinez as support to Yann Sommer and Argentine defender Tomas Palacios also arrived from Independiente Rivadavia.
Yet for the reigning champions it was more evolution than revolution, and the Nerazzurri are arguably stronger than the side that walked to the league title last season.
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Can AC Milan’s understated summer pay off?
And what of Inter’s city neighbours AC Milan? Their mercato was more understated than flashy. The club made the necessary signings to strengthen the squad without making waves, and thus going under the radar somewhat.
Emerson Royal, Alvaro Morata, Tammy Abraham, Strahinja Pavlovic and Youssouf Fofana all arrived while the club didn’t need to sacrifice any big players like a year ago.
The biggest chaos arrived at Napoli and Atalanta, both clubs were dogged with player-related fiascos all summer. For Napoli and new coach Antonio Conte, the sword of Damocles was called Victor Osimhen. The Nigerian wanted to leave, but his form last season meant there wasn’t a club willing to pay his €120m (£101m) release clause plus the massive salary he was demanding.
The lack of suitors blocked Napoli from making any major signings, until eventually club president Aurelio De Laurentiis wilted and brought in Romelu Lukaku, David Neres, Alessandro Buongiorno, Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour for a combined €137m (£115m) in the final days of the window. Osimhen didn’t get his move and is now cut from Napoli’s squad, further complicating matters and diminishing his transfer value further.
Atalanta, meanwhile, had to contend with Koopmeiners angling for a move to Juventus all summer long.
Following their Europa League success, the club wanted to keep their momentum and maintain the squad that delivered the first major trophy in the club’s history. Yet Koopmeiners’ refusal to integrate back into the squad sent a clear signal that he didn’t want to play for La Dea. The stand-off continued until the final week of the window, when Atalanta eventually relented and allowed the player to leave, with Juve handing over close to €60m (£50m).
Gian Piero Gasperini has had his squad strengthened, with the arrivals of Ben Godfrey, Nicolo Zaniolo, Ibrahim Sullemana, Lazar Samardzic, Raoul Bellanova, Marco Brescianini and Mateo Retegui. Moreover keeping Ademola Lookman, the hero of the Europa League final in Dublin, when it seemed like he wanted a move to Paris Saint-Germain is also a major boost as they once again play Champions League football.
Roma splash the cash for De Rossi
Roma produced a solid summer transfer window. After being frugal in Jose Mourinho’s final two summer windows, the club finally splurged the cash for Daniele De Rossi in order to get back into the Champions League.
Matias Soule, Artem Dovbyk, Alexis Saelemaekers, Manu Kone and Enzo Le Fee are the new faces for the Giallorossi while retaining creative lynchpin Paulo Dybala is a major plus.
New signing Dovbyk, at a cost of €38m (£32m), will be tasked with scoring the goals needed to bring Roma back to Europe’s top competition for the first time since 2018/19.
Fiorentina and Lazio made subtle tweaks to their squads. La Viola hope Moise Kean can address their lack of a genuine goalscorer, with the club cycling through multiple forwards in the last two years in an attempt to replace Dusan Vlahovic.
Lazio, meanwhile, have made some astute signings, with Boulaye Dia signing from Salernitana, Gaetano Castrovilli arriving on a free from Fiorentina and Nuno Tavares coming from Arsenal. Yet Lazio fans have been dismayed by the departures of big names this summer, with Ciro Immobile, Luis Alberto, Felipe Anderson and Daichi Kamada all bidding farewell to the Eternal City.
Ambitious Como make their statement
Como have arguably produced the best transfer window from the newly-promoted sides. The likes of Pepe Reina, Raphael Varane, Sergi Roberto and Alberto Moreno have all arrived to lend some experience to what is an inexperienced squad at this level. Nico Paz, who arrived from Real Madrid’s Castilla setup, is also one to watch.
Varane, however, has already been omitted from Cesc Fabregas’ squad after picking up a knee injury in pre-season and the Frenchman’s fitness remains a concern.
Parma have mainly kept the side who won Serie B last season, only adding Matteo Cancellieri, who has joined on loan from Lazio, and signing Japanese goalkeeper Zion Suzuki from Sint-Truidense for €7.5m (£6.3m). Yet considering the measure of their performances against Fiorentina, Milan and Napoli in the first three rounds of the season, the Gialloblu have proven they’ve been right to keep faith in the same players who achieved promotion under Fabio Pecchia.
Alexis Sanchez’s return to Udinese, the club that catapulted him to superstardom in Europe at the beginning of the 2010s, was the most emotional signing in Italy this summer. Fed up with the odd game at Inter, Sanchez will be expected to lead the line in Udine once again, and the hope is the 35-year-old still has some magic left in order to keep the Friuli side in the top flight after surviving by just two points last season.
Watch our Como podcast, recorded at the Allianz Stadium:
