What Serie A’s Big Six Need Ahead of the January Transfer Window

The January transfer window is soon upon us, and Serie A sides will be assessing what they need.

The winter window is one generally loathed by managers and clubs, with the belief that there isn’t good value to be had in signing players mid-way through the campaign.

Clubs can often appear desperate, believing that throwing money at a player will help solve problems or change the course of a season. This plays into the hands of the selling club, who extract more money from the buying club, sensing their need.

Sometimes signing players mid-season can work, often it doesn’t.

Here Destination Calcio takes a look at what the biggest sides in Serie A need going into the January window.

Inter Milan

The reigning champions arguably don’t need to strengthen. Simone Inzaghi’s squad remains arguably the best in the league, with quality in depth across the park.

Perhaps, if one was to knit-pick, having another striker who could score goals would be an upgrade. Mehdi Taremi was signed in the summer and has to date just one goal from 18 appearances. 

Mirko Arnautovic has gone one better with just two. But with Inter still in all competitions going into the second half of the season, having a striker to ease the burden on Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram would be no doubt appreciated by Inzaghi.

Napoli

Antonio Conte’s side are benefitting from playing just once-a-week this season, but even still they’ve laboured in collecting wins at times.

Napoli have been linked with a move for Juventus defender Danilo, who would add experience to the Partenopei defence. A deputy for Romelu Lukaku would also be highly beneficial for Conte, with Giovanni Simeone struggling and Giacomo Raspadori being linked with a departure.

Yet with Aurelio De Laurentiis shelling over €150m (£125m) last summer, it’s doubtful whether he will open up the chequebook once more.

However should someone snap up Victor Osimhen for the kind of money De Laurentiis demands, then who knows.

Atalanta

La Dea are, even by their own standards, surpassing expectations this season. Gian Piero Gasperini’s men find themselves top of Serie A as 2024 nears its end after a relentless streak of wins.

Going into the game against Lazio, you had to go back to late September for the last time Gasperini’s troops failed to win a league game. Since then, they’ve picked up an astonishing 11 consecutive league wins, propelling them to the top of the table.

But does Gasperini need any signings in the winter window? 

Central midfield could be one area where Atalanta look a little fragile. Should Ederson or Mario Pasalic suffer an injury, it would leave Gasperini with only Marco Brescianini, Ibrahim Sulemana and Marten De Roon as possible options.

Sulemana has hardly played this season while Brescianini has been in and out of the team, while De Roon — always a reliable operator — is a few months short of his 34th birthday. 

Yet the problem for any would-be signing is that adapting to Gasperini’s system takes time, and attempting to do it mid-season would be a mammoth undertaking for any potential recruit.

However, in the wake of the 1-1 draw with Lazio, Gasperini did admit the club could look at bringing in another attacker. “In attack we don’t have a lot, it’s enough to look at the bench [for the Lazio game]. The club knows that this year we want to be very competitive,” he said.

So La Dea may or may not dip into the January transfer market, but the returns of Giorgio Scalvini and Gianluca Scamacca in the opening months of 2025 will be a big boost to Gasperini.

Juventus

The Old Lady are undefeated in the first half of the season, but they’re also not winning that many games. Bremer’s season-ending injury has, in retrospect, been a watershed moment in their season. 

Juve have only kept four clean sheets in his absence, and their frailty at the back is evident more than ever. As good as Pierre Kalulu and Federico Gatti have been this season, the centre of defence is still a vulnerable point for Thiago Motta.

It’s been no surprise to read the Bianconeri are in the market for a central defender, but first need to raise cash, and the sacrificial lamb appears to be Nicolo Fagioli.

The likes of AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori and Feyenoord’s David Hancko have been linked, but nothing will transpire until Fagioli is offloaded, with it being reported Juve are seeking around €25m (£20.7m) for the 23-year-old.

Juve could also looking at bringing in another forward. Dusan Vlahovic has cut an isolated and forlorn figure at times, but Motta has no alternative to the Serb. Arkadiusz Milik has been injured since the summer, which has left the former Bologna manager using the likes of Kenan Yildiz and Timothy Weah as a false nine in games when Vlahovic has been unavailable.

Yet a defender is no doubt top of Motta’s wishlist in January.

AC Milan

The Rossoneri have just sacked Paulo Fonseca after a mixed first half of the campaign. In truth, his dismissal always seemed likely, but the Portuguese wasn’t helped by Milan’s mediocre transfer dealings last summer.

The 19-time Serie A champions still need a genuine centre forward, with Alvaro Morata scoring all of four goals in the league since arriving last summer. Rafael Leao continues to blow hot and cold, meaning Milan’s top scorer this season is Tijjani Reijnders, a central midfielder.

Emerson Royal has been nothing short of disastrous since signing from Tottenham, and a consistent right-back is needed, but it remains to be seen if Milan will dip into the market to sign a replacement.

If Fikayo Tomori is to leave, with the Englishman falling down the pecking order at San Siro, then another defender could be signed as a replacement. Yet for Milan this January will likely be about bringing in a new coach and climbing up the table rather than signing new players.

Roma

Claudio Ranieri has stabilised the Giallorossi to some extent since taking over in November, but it remains to be seen whether the club will buy any players in the January window.

Paulo Dybala had been linked with a move to Turkey in the past several months, but it appears La Joya is set to remain at the club, and Roma will be all the better for it. 

A right-back or wing-back is in order, with Mehmet Celik not up to the task. In his place, Roma have been linked with Cagliari’s Gabriele Zappa, who Ranieri knows from his time in Sardinia, and Parma captain Enrico Del Prato.

Yet given Celik’s form this season, it’s debatable whether Roma will find a buyer for the Turkey international. However, should the club sell Lorenzo Pellegrini or Bryan Cristante, both of whom have been in the firing line amid Roma’s horrendous start to the season, then the funds could be diverted to replacing Celik.

Edoardo Bove, who suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for Fiorentina against Inter earlier this month and can therefore no longer play in Italy due to FIGC stipulations, could well be sold in January or his contract will be annulled in order to let the youngster play abroad. 

However, with so much uncertainty in the red-and-yellow half of the capital at present, Roma likely won’t be big movers and shakers in the January window.