In the past five years, Serie A progressed step by step. The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo boosted the process but this summer – it all went a few steps backwards.When stars like Ronaldo, Lukaku, Donnarumma or Hakimi leave in the same transfer window, and their replacements are Kean, Dzeko, Manian and Dumfries, it is clear that there has been an exodus of top quality. Of course, some new stars of Italian football will emerge, maybe the departures of the mentioned stars will create some space for them, but it is obvious that the financial crisis has hit Italian football hard.##EDITORS_CHOICE##The most expensive transfer of the summer market in Serie A was Roma’s purchase of Tammy Abraham for 47 million USD. A transfer that a mediocre Premier League club like Aston Villa, Everton, Wolves make without breaking a sweat… But even with little money, there were a lot of ideas, speculations, negotiations… ‘Mercato’ is simply in Italians’ blood – they pay as much attention to it as they do to football matches. So let’s summarize what happened…INTER MILANWhile celebrating the Scudetto they won after 11 years, Inter knew that difficult times lie ahead and that they would have to make their peace with painful financial cuts during the summer. The Chinese faucet dried up and the club had to sell the best to patch the holes. Antonio Conte immediately realized that and raised the anchor – the club then moved on to the reconstruction of the team with the less demanding coach Simone Inzaghi, who agreed to work with what he has at his disposal.Inter sacrificed Lukaku and Hakimi for almost 240 million USD and was left without the last season’s heart of the team. And they almost lost Lautaro Martinez. They got rid of some high salary-players such as Joao Mario or Nainggolan and sent a bunch of youngsters on loan.©Gallo ImagesAs for new signings, Inter was looking to get players as cheaply as possible. They snatched Calhanoglu from their city rivals for free, veteran Dzeko and Correa (who was Inzaghi’s only wish) will try and fill Lukaku’s shoes as far as goals go. After the situation with Eriksen, the transfer of Calhanoglu turned out to be even more important. Hakimi’s position will be filled by Dumfries, who can grow into a serious defender.When it’s all said and done, directors Marotta and Ausilio did the job given the resources that were at their disposal. But the team is definitely a class weaker than it was last year. A pebble in the shoe is that the club did not manage to get rid of Alexis Sanchez and replace him with a younger and cheaper offensive player.IN: Joaquin Correa (Lazio, loan), Edin Dzeko (Roma), Hakan Calhanoglu (Milan), Denzel Dumfries (PSV), Matteo Darmian (Parma), Alex Cordaz (Crotone), Zinho Vanheusden (Standard, 16,000,000)OUT: Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea), Achraf Hakimi (PSG), Radja Nainggolan (Antwerp), Joao Mario (Benfica), Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Matteo Politano (Napoli, loan), Antonio Candreva (Sampdoria, loan), Zinho Vanheusden (Genoa, loan), Andrea Pinamonti (Empoli, loan), Rigoberto Rivas (Reggina, 550,000), Daniele Padeli (Udinese, no compensation), Filip Stankovic (Volendam, loan), Sebastiano Esposito (Basel, loan), Dalbert (Cagliari, loan), Lucian Agume (Brest, loan), Eddie Salsedo (Genoa, loan)AC MILANMilan was a pleasant surprise last season and many are wondering if he can do it again. As many as seven new players were brought in, and only two important players left – plus Hauge, who was not given a proper chance to prove himself. Purchases and selling show around 80 million USD on both ends, so there is no significant financial deficit.Those who proved themselves on loan (Tomori, Diaz and Tonali) were brought on ‘permanent’ basis, while those who did not make an impact (Dalot and Meite) were not kept. Paolo Maldini started leading the club with a firm hand and with Donnaruma and Calhanoglu as examples showed that Mino Raiola and his agents will not lead the club. What Raiola is doing with Juventus and Pavel Nedved, stepping over all boundaries of ethics and sports, will not pass in Milan.Olivier Giroud (©Gallo Images)The legendary captain has every right to tell the players that no one is above the club. The blackmail system shall not pass at San Siro, some hierarchy in pay grades must exist, no matter who the agent is. This is also a message to Romagnoli that he will not be privileged as long as Raiola decides for the player. A lot of money was lost on Donnarumma, while Calhanoglu is not such a painful loss.Maldini found more than a decent replacement for Gigi in the form of Mike Manian – the Frenchman plays brilliantly at the beginning of the season, and was not an expensive acquisition. The purchase of Tomori for big money will still be under heavy analisys and we will see if Maldini was right. On the other hand, the arrival of Giroud for free and the loan of the talented Pellegri brought Pioli new attacking options that were not available last season when Zlatan was injured or tired.Florenzi and Balo Toure are good options on the flanks – especially Florenzi instead of the unreliable Dalot. Bakayoko should be a class or two above Meite, but the problems with the offensive midfielder and the lack of a right wing remain. From names like Isco, Coutinho, James Rodriguez, Vlašić, and even Miranchuk, it all came down to the Brazilian “ugly duckling” Junior Messias. A man who is 30 years old and played amateur football until two years ago is a big gamble by Maldini. But who knows… Maybe he’ll show something. He has nothing to lose.Mike Manian (©Gallo Images)In this situation, Milan will have to rely on Brahim Diaz more than they planned. Milan brought descent reinforcements for solid money, but they also made mistakes by not resolving cases of Conti and Castillejo, as well as not clarifying the situation with Kessie and his new contract.IN: Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea), Mike Manian (Lille), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma, loan), Fode Balo Toure (Monaco), Pietro Pellegri (Monaco, loan), Junior Messias (Crotone, loan), Tiemue Bakayoko (Chelsea, loan), Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid, loan), Yacine Adli (Bordeaux)OUT: Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter), Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG), Diego Laxalt (Dinamo Moscow), Matthias Caldara (Venice, loan), Jens Peter Hauge (Eintracht Frankfurt, loan), Sualiho Meite (Torino), Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Lorenzo Colombo (SPAL), Tomazo Pobega (Turin, loan), Mario Mandzukic (free agent), Antonio Donnarumma (Padova, loan), Yacine Adli (Bordeaux, loan)JUVENTUSMany may be disappointed with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo because the spectacle is gone, but relief is probably what they are feeling at Allianz Stadium. Let’s face it, Juve didn’t get much with Ronaldo apart from popularity. The results were getting worse and the costs were enormous. The club’s budget is refreshed now that there is no massive salary for the Portuguese.Of course, he is not the only one to blame, but also the management because they experimented with Sarri and Pirlo. The fact is that the Old Lady hid behind Cristiano on the European scene and at the same time lost their domestic battle. Now Juventus can return to their recognizable and pragmatic style with Max Allegri, who will create a team around Dybala and Chiesa, which were ‘suffocated’ by Ronaldo.Manuel Locatelli (©Gallo Images)After several months of pursuit, Locatelli was brought to the playmaking position, so the idea of bringing back Pjanić was abandoned. The return of Moise Kean acts as some hole-patching and a favour to club’s ally Raiola. The same as the purchase of Raiola’s client Ihattaren, who was immediately sent to Sampdoria.Allegri wanted to get rid of one of the McKennie – Ramsey – Rabiot trio, but he did not succeed. He didn’t get Icardi or anyone besides Kean to make up for Ronaldo’s goals. His first task will be to see what he can fix from the ruins left by Pirlo, and next summer we should expect a much more serious transfer period and the arrival of some big signings.With this team, Juve has the deepest squad, but the problem is that the most of those players is far from the right form and that it will take quite a long time for Allegri to establish the system because there was pretty much no system with Ronaldo.After coming back home Ronaldo confirms: “Sir Alex was the key”IN: Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo, loan), Kaio Jorge (Santos), Mohamed Ihattaren (PSV), Moise Kean (Everton, loan), Weston McKennie (Schalke), Matija Perin (Genoa), Luca Pellegrini (Genoa), Daniele Rugani (Cagliari), Mattia de Sciglio (Lyon).OUT: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Merih Demiral (Atalanta, loan), Cristiano Romero (Atalanta), Gianluigi Buffon (Parma), Marko Pjaca (Torino, loan), Gianluca Frabota (Verona, loan)ATALANTAAtalanta have never spent so much money in the transfer period. The official amount is 80 million USD, but with the purchase of Demiral next summer, it will exceed 105 million. The Turk came to replace Romero, whom Tottenham will buy next summer for over 60 million USD. Proven recipe. You borrow a young stopper from Juventus, play him, buy him back, sell him for three times more money and replace him with a similar player.Juan Musso (©Gallo Images)Atalanta rejected all the offers of Inter and Juventus for Zapata, kept Gosens, Hateboer, Muriel, Miranchuk… They did a great job by bringing Musso from Udinese and solved the goalkeeper issue on the long run. Atalanta is definitely entering the new season stronger. The only mistake is that they did not manage to bring the wing, that is, Jeremy Boga from Sassuolo, club’s biggest wish.NAPOLIAs far as Napoli go, it seems as if they were not aware the transfer period is underway. The disappointing last season made Aurelio de Laurentis ignore all the suggestions of the director Giuntoli.True, the backbone of the team is there – Insigne, Ruiz, Koulibaly, Manolas were kept. Hisaj and Maksimovic left and only two meager signings arrived in the form of reserve centre back Juan Jesus and unreliable Zambo Anguiza from Fulham. The only essential reinforcement is Algerian Adam Ounas, who returned after numerous loans and brings added value to the team.Adam Ounas (©Gallo Images)The new coach Spalletti is someone who knows how to get the maximum out of the team and who is not asking a lot during transfer windows. So for Napoli this will be either a season of refreshment or complete saturation followed by total reconstruction. It all leads towards the latter.LAZIOAt Lazio, the arrival of manager Maurizio Sarri instead of Simone Inzaghi meant a considerable turn in the club’s politics and the appearance of the team.Sarri is known as a demanding coach with specific ideas who insists on strong flanks and playmaker rotations – the flanks and winger positions were strengthened straight away by Sarri’s student Hisaj. Pedro came, whom the city rival could hardly wait to get rid of due to his high salary. And there is the return of Felipe Anderson.Bundesliga side gives a fake e-mail to avoid selling their best player to LazioSarri also insisted on Filip Kostić, but Eintracht did not give in, so in the end Mattia Zaccagni, the best player of Verona last season, was brought in. It seems that Lazio lost too much with the departure of Correa and a proper replacement was not found.ROMAJose Mourinho’s arrival announced that this will be an exciting summer for Roma. It certainly meant numerous changes during the transfer window so the American owners tried to stand behind the Portuguese.They supported him for the big signing of Tammy Abraham – the most expensive transfer this summer in Italy. Young striker to replace Edin Dzeko, Tammy is what Mourinho needs for a quick transition and deadly counterattacks. Just like “Uzbek Messi” Eldor Shomurodov, whose miraculous speed to that height will make life bitter for many defenders.Tammy Abraham (©Gallo Images)The Americans “made” Mourinho buy goalkeeper Rui Patricio from his friend and super agent Jorge Mendes – Patricio should finally solve the problem between the posts after years of wandering with various experiments. The promising Vinha from Palmeiras was brought for the left back, no one came to cover the right flank, even though Mourinho was looking for Barišić from Rangers.Also, Mourinho’s wish to bring in a central midfielder has not been fulfilled – he wanted Xhaka, Koopmeiners, Serge Oliveira… However, it was not possible because the club worked on cleaning the payroll from the catastrophe that Monchi caused a few years ago.Mourinho, Vinha, Patricio (©Gallo Images)They managed to get rid off Pastore, Olsen, Lopez, Under, Dzeko, Pedro, Perez, Kluivert, Ćorić… They seriously relieved the budget, and it would be ideal if they also managed to drive out Nzonzi, Santon and Fazio. But, they did not want to go, so they will hardly play any official football matches until January.SASSUOLOEveryone’s Serie A darling Sassuolo will not remember this transfer window as a good one. They said goodbye to the heart of the team – manager De Zerbi, Marlon Santos, Locatelli and Caputo. Silver lining can be found in keeping Boga and Berardi.FIORENTINAIt was really exciting in Florence. The boss Rocco Commisso vetoed the sales of Dušan Vlahović and Nikola Milenković, which could have brought them close to 120 million USD – thus he let everyone know that he does not want to break the team apart but to build.⚜️💜 Lucas Torreira#ACFFiorentina #ForzaViola #Fiorentina #Torreira pic.twitter.com/11D4NLXH8Y— ACF Fiorentina (@acffiorentina) September 2, 2021 He gave up Ribery and his high salaries determined to rejuvenate the team a bit. Signings such as like Odriozola, Torreira and especially Nick Gonzales should help Vlahovic and bring Viola back to the glory days of late 90s-early 2000s. Kouame was loaned to Anderlecht and experienced sweeper Nastasić has returned.REST OF THE LEAGUESimilar to La Liga and the impact the pandemic made on the Spanish top-tier, the less famous teams in Italy mostly did business to survive. Truth be told it is not as severe as it is in Spain, and also Italian have their ways of doing all sorts of loan variations that help them make it through the campaign. there were no massive signings or releases in the rest of the league.A couple of transfers worth mentioning are Atletico Madrid taking Rodrygo De Paul from Udinese and Marko Arnautovic returning to European football and signing for Bologna.
