Assessing the transfer window: Serie A
Italian football is facing its biggest betting scandal since the Totonero scandal in 1980. Scomessopoli has crippled Italian Football with clubs also fighting to meet the needs of the FFP it has been nothing but an uphill struggle. Despite having poor match-day revenue and TV revenue, there is a certain amount of loyalty which is still keeping some of the brightest Calcio talent within the peninsula. These statistics of the player business by the Calcio clubs this window shows the spending prowess clubs have gained due to smart businesses.
Transfer Revenue: 343,358,400 £ Transfer Expenditures: 335,328,400 £ Total: +8,030,000 £
Departures: 729 Arrivals: 656
The Italian clubs have had a history of selling big; from Zidane to Ibrahimovic, the profit reaped by the clubs has always been used wisely in building teams. Udinese seem to defy logic every season this is partly due to their wonderful scouting system. Also with Giampaolo Pozzo’s reach going into Granada and Watford there always seems to be an endless supply of talent and also opportunity for this talent to grow in various leagues. Napoli might be in the hands of an eccentric president in De Laurentiis but he has been shrewd with his summer dealings, Lorenzo Insigne has been magnificent thus far and proving to be an able if not a better replacement to Pocho Lavezzi.
Juventus
Juventus are the most balanced club in the world in terms of its financial turnouts. The new Juventus Stadium has always been packed with fans unlike most stadia in Italy, generation of match-day revenue has increased 300 fold ever since. Antonio Conte and his team won the league unbeaten; with AC Milan arguing about a valid goal being disallowed which eventually was the difference. But one can argue that the Rossoneri were in having tough time dealing with their injury crisis. The Bianconeri though, were spirited in their victories. The genius in Conte brought the best out of the team which was constantly being experimented with various formations, pointing at how flexible the squad was.
In the transfer window, the club has gone one step further in their flexibility quotient by bringing in the likes of Asamoah, Isla and Cacares. The trio cost just 23.23 million £, and that is very good business for such kind of players. With Champions League football now into the mix, the squad had to be improved and the signings reflect the need.
The striker department was a major concern for the Old Lady last season. They went about searching for the signature of a world class striker but finally ended up with Niklas Bendtner from Arsenal. Clearly, Bendtner was a last gasp panic attempt for a player with aerial presense in the opposition box. Also, the permanent signing of their academy graduate, Sebastian Giovinco from Parma should give enough options upfront.
In other news, club legend Del Piero moved to Australia, Boriello and Estegarribia completed their loan spells and unflavored wingers Eljero Elia and Milos Krasic were sold. We can expect a similar run of wins from Conte’s men this season with flexibility between 3-4-3 and 4-3-3.
AC Milan
With losses looming large, action had to be taken to coast the club to safety. An operating loss of 67 million £ at the start of last season and very less revenue in the last term have forced the club to retort to desperate measures. The monumental wage bill had to cut short and new energy had to be induced into a team with very high average player age.
The Rossoneri probably was the club with highest transfer activity, most of it being departures. The whole of the old guard comprising of Inzaghi, Seedorf, Nesta, Gattuso, Oddo and Zambrotta left, leaving behind a legacy for the fans to cherish. Van Bommel moved to PSV on a free transfer and Taye Taiwo was again loaned out. Alberto Aquilani and Maxi Lopez completed their loan spells and Sulley Muntari was signed on a free transfer.
The biggest blow though would be the departure of Thiago ‘Rock’ Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. A combined fee of 55.44 million £ was accepted for their transfer to PSG. All these dealings account to a massive 66 Million saved in wage bill giving the club a 120 Million Euro head start at the beginning of the season to build on. Despite this Milan still have the highest wage bill in Italy, partly due to the number of players contracted with the club, most being backup players due to the lingering injury crisis at the club. Adriano Galliani had to weave his magic again to replace such a massive clear-out, and he actually did decent business. To boost up the midfield, Nigel De Jong, Ricardo Montolivo, Sulley Muntari and Kevin Constant were brought in. Ex-Sampdoria teammates, Pazzini and Cassano swapped clubs, after Cassano expressed his desire to leave the club. The deal resulted in Milan paying Inter a fee of 6.6m£.
Apart from Pazzini, to strengthen the attack Bojan Krkic was acquired on loan from Roma and youngster, M’Baye Niang was signed for 2.6m£ from Caen. New defenders, Christian Zapata and Acerbi will be facing the task of filling the boots of Thiago Silva and Nesta this season.
Inter Milan
Inter are undergoing a revolution under their young manager Stramaccioni. After a roller coaster season, emphasis has been laid on attaining stability. Departures of Diego Forlan, Luc Castaignos, Goran Pandev and Pazzini depleted the attack leaving only Diego Milito. New signings in Rodrigo Palacio and Antonio Cassano should surely provide options. Keeper Julio Cesar moved to EPL club QPR and was replaced by Samir Handanovic with Castellazzi still the backup. Defender Maicon was sold to Man City for 3.3m£ and Alvaro Periera was brought in for 8.8 m£ as his probable replacement.
Mauro Zarate, Andrea Poli, and Palombo completed their loan spell and midfielder Fredy Guarin was permanently signed for 9.7m£ after his loan spell last season. Stramaccioni inducted 6 academy graduates into his squad and it will be interesting to see how he uses them over the course of the season. With a decent depth to the squad, Inter will be looking at a possible 2nd place finish in the league.
Fiorentina
The Della Valle brothers seem to have broken the shackles and after a stream of not so impressive dealings, the Viola has experienced a massive resurrection after their dramatic finish last season which saw manager Delio Rossi assault Adam Ljajic physically. Vincenzo Montella was appointed as the new coach after his successful spell at Catania last season and as promised by the brothers they have worked out a successful Mercato. With an objective of building a fresh squad, Montella stormed the market by acquiring Alberto Aquilani, David Pizzaro, Matias Fernandez and Borja Valero, a quartet with extreme quality on the ball.
Youngster Matija Nastasic was sold to Man City for 13.5m£ and Stefan Savic went the other way. Also, defender Nenad Tomovic was signed from Genoa. In the departure list, Montolivo and Amauri left on free transfers and Valon Behrami was sold for 7m£ to Napoli. With two-thirds of the team being new, Montella has a tough task of integrating the squad. This might be a long shot project, but The Viola have a very good chance of a top 7 finish this season.