5 most valuable Serie A teams at the moment
Italian Serie A is a league where players don't want to be this summer. Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo is the latest superstar to have sought a move away from the league.
The effects of the pandemic were significant in Italy. The absence of fans inside the stadiums, followed by a reduction in broadcast revenues, has put Serie A clubs in trouble.
Serie A clubs sanctioning emeregency sales to balance the books
The clubs are under heavy debt and are desperate to balance their books. They have tried to lower their overall wage budget.
The Serie A clubs had asked their players to accept wage cuts last summer, a suggestion that was swiftly rejected by the Italian soccer players’ association.
They have therefore resorted to the tactics of selling some of their star players to strengthen their balance sheet this time.
The job is almost done now. Most Serie A clubs are now in rather comfortable positions, showing significant rises in their market value compared to last season.
In the list below we are going to discuss the five most valuable Serie A teams right now:
#5 AS Roma (€423 million)
AS Roma's current market valuation is around €423m, a 19.9 per cent increase from last year. The Serie A side knew they would have to keep a healthy budget available when they appointed Jose Mourinho as their new manager.
They did so with the signings of as many as six players. The highest fee they paid was for Tammy Abraham, whom they signed from Chelsea for a €40m fee.
Apart from Abraham, Roma's market value has been further escalated by some of their long-serving players.
Nicolo Zaniolo is one such example. The 22-year-old, who has been at AS Roma for the last three years, is priced at €40m.
Skipper Lorenzo Pellegrini and Jordan Veretout add up another €73m.
Roma will now hope that they will be able to ride on Mourinho's managerial skills to make headway in Serie A this season.
It was a disappointing campaign last time when they could only qualify for the UEFA Conference League.
#4 AC Milan (€443 million)
It was probably the worst transfer window in AC Milan's history. Their inability to agree new deals with some of their best players meant that the Serie A giants had to let them go for free.
The biggest of those was goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Currently valued at €65m, the European Championships winner left AC Milan for free.
Hakan Calhanoglu is yet another high-profile departure. The Turkish international, valued at €35m angered the AC Milan fans when he refused to sign a new deal and later joined rivals Inter Milan.
The Serie A giants compensated for Donnarumma's loss with the signing of Mike Maignan (€13m). Fikayo Tomori added another €29m to AC Milan's market value, which now stands at €443 million.
Timori, though, is not new to the Serie A scene having spent last season at the San Siro-based outfit on loan from Chelsea.
The player with the highest valuation in the AC Milan team is Franck Kessie, who is valued at €55m. Full-back Theo Hernandez contributes with another €50m.
AC Milan are counting on some old horses such as Zlatan Ibrahomivic and Olivier Giroud to bring them success in Serie A this season.