Italian Serie A clubs spent around €747 million this summer bolstering their squad to compete for the 2024/25 season – the second-highest gross spend in Europe’s top five leagues behind the Premier League.
However, while some clubs improved upon their roster and plugged pressing squad holes, others bungled a significant opportunity to strengthen their ranks.
After three exhilarating rounds of games, we catch our breath to look at the biggest winners and losers from the recently concluded summer transfer window.
Biggest Winners
AS Roma
Roma chairman Dan Friedkin dismissed sporting director Tiago Pinto in the second half of last season and plucked promising transfer supremo Florent Ghisolfi from OGC Nice.
The Frenchman did a terrific job in the transfer market, arming manager Daniele De Rossi with a strong squad as they bid to push for a top four finish this term.
Roma did not sign Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea despite his 21 goals last term on loan. Instead, they paid big money to take La Liga top scorer Artem Dovbyk from Girona.
The Ukrainian netted 24 goals last season to spearhead Girona to their first-ever European appearance and earned a big-money move to the Italian capital.
The Giallorossi also reinforced their flanks by signing Matias Soule from Juventus following his exciting loan campaign with Frosinone.
Ghisolfi showed his knowledge of the French market, bringing in playmaker Enzo Le Fee.
They also signed goalkeeper Matthew Ryan, Saud Abdulhamid, Samuel Dahl, and Angelino and took Alexis Saelemaekers and Manu Kone on season-long loans.
Roma closed their market with some astute additions, bringing in free agents Mats Hummels and Mario Hermoso to strengthen the rearguard. They had arguably the best summer in Italy.
With a revitalised squad, Roma fans can expect a thrilling season. Secure your AS Roma tickets on Seatsnet.com, and don’t miss a moment of the action!
Juventus
Juventus brought in a new transfer chief and head coach, which has paid massive dividends. Sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli is one of Italy’s best operators and proved his mettle this window.
After bringing in Thiago Motta as head coach, the former Napoli sporting director has set about reshaping the squad for the former Italy international.
The midfield, in particular, needed a long overdue overhaul. The Bianconeri had eyes on Atalanta Swiss army knife Teun Koopmeiners and got their man after long and tedious negotiations.
They added Brazilian international Douglas Luiz and OGC Nice box-to-box dynamo Khephren Thuram to their midfield options.
With goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny retiring, Juve brought in Michele Di Gregorio, while AC Milan inexplicably gave them a free run to sign promising centre-back/right-back Pierre Kalulu.
They added left-back Juan Cabal to replace Alex Sandro. The reigning Coppa Italia champions signed Fiorentina’s Nico Gonzalez and Francisco Conceicao from Porto to close a fruitful transfer window.
Their excellent dealings have paid off, with the record Serie A winners sitting pretty in second place on the league table.
Torino
Torino needed to give new manager Paolo Vanoli a strong squad to go into battle for the season, and the Turin club did excellently with the resources at hand.
Duvan Zapata, Saul Coco, Sebastian Walukiewicz, Guillermo Maripan, Marcus Pedersen, Adam Masina, Che Adams, Alberto Paleari, and Antonio Donnarumma joined over the summer.
These stars have played significant roles in helping Torino to third on the league table with two wins and a draw in three matches.
They held AC Milan to a stalemate before beating Europa League champions Atalanta and Venezia.
Adams and Coco bagged crucial winners, while Masina and Sosa have helped keep the backline watertight.
Their fantastic recruitment has unsurprisingly led to a brilliant start to the season, although Vanoli deserves his flowers for a stellar set-up that maximises everyone’s abilities.
Biggest Losers
AC Milan
Milan had straightforward targets heading into the transfer window. Sign a new right-back, defensive midfielder, and striker.
In the right-back position, the Rossoneri downgraded on Davide Calabria (as hard as it looks), buying Emerson Royal from Tottenham Hotspur.
The Brazilian looked dreadful in his first outings for the Rossoneri. He is clumsy in defence, uninspiring in attack, and listless in possession.
Meanwhile, Milan never signed that defensive midfielder to screen the defence. Their midfield has been porous for years, but they have refused to sign a natural anchor. They remain brittle in the centre and easily exposed.
For the centre-forward position, Milan moved heaven and earth to sign one of the most underwhelming options in the market.
The seven-time UEFA Champions League winners ended up with journeyman Alvaro Morata, who does not move the needle – he never has.
His 28 goals and 39(!) big chances missed over the last two seasons in La Liga somehow encouraged the club to shell real money on the Spanish international.
Consequently, Milan are stuck close to the relegation zone with one point from their first three games.
The egregious summer transfer window is the primary reason for their lowly position, although Paulo Fonseca’s tactical ineptitude has to count for something.
AC Monza
Like their sister club Milan, AC Monza find themselves fledgling close to the bottom of the Serie A log. After two smooth seasons in the top flight, they were dismembered over the summer.
They lost coach Rafaelle Palladino, influential midfielder Andrea Colpani, and Di Gregorio, arguably the best goalkeeper in the Italian top flight.
The Milan-based club had barely any more to spend, and most of their deals were loans and free transfers.
They brought Georgios Kyriakopoulos, Daniel Maldini, Stefano Sensi, Omari Forsoni, Stefano Turati, Alessandro Bianco, and Semuel Pizzignacco to round out an uninspiring transfer window.
The table tells the story of their summer. Poor results have followed even poorer (literally) recruitment. Monza sit in 15th with only two points. They are in for a long season under Alessandro Nesta.
Como
Como should have spent the summer recruiting Serie A-ready players that know the league. They needed players to help them stay in the top flight.
However, their summer focused on signing significant names that were clearly past it and overhauling the squad.
The Biancoblu signed Nico Paz, Sergi Roberto, Alberto Moreno, Pepe Reina, Maximo Perrone (loan) and Raphael Varane.
They also added Alberto Dossena, Yannik Engelhardt, Emil Audero, Gabriel Strefezza, Alieu Fadera, Andrea Belotti, Marc Oliver Kempf, Matthias Braunoder, Ben Lhassine Kone, Marco Curto, Ali Jasim, Peter Kovacik, Luca Mazzitelli, and Ignace Van der Brempt.
Unfortunately, these signings have failed to gel, and Como look a far cry from the exciting side that lit up Serie B last term.
They sit rock bottom on the Serie A log and are likely to drop into the second division if they fail to arrest their slump.
