What a season we are set to have in Italy. After Napoli secured their first Scudetto since the 1989/90 season, the league is truly up for grabs. With new signings coming in for all of the top teams, who knows where the title can go. It all starts on the third Saturday of August. Let’s get into it.
1. Will Gasperini get the best out of Scamacca?
When Atalanta suddenly entered the race for the former Sassuolo and West Ham striker, I don’t think anyone would’ve thought he would be heading to Bergamo over Milan. However, after a €25m fee with €5m add-ons, Gianluca Scamacca is officially an Atalanta player. When they finished a disappointing 8th in the 2021/22 season, some people were saying that Gasperini’s genius had run out of its luck. Proving the claims wrong, Gasperini & Co. finished a decent fifth place only six points away from a Champions League spot.
A lot of Atalanta’s success last year could be attributed to the surprising play of Ademola Lookman. The Nigerian international finished with 15 goals (13 in the league) and eight assists in 33 appearances. Lookman finished as the club’s top scorer, five goals above now Manchester United’s new striker Rasmus Højlund. With the new signings of Gianluca Scamacca & former Almeria striker El Bilal Touré, Atalanta’s revamped attack could thrive under the genius of Gian Piero Gasperini.
2. How will Inter’s new signings fill the void?
The losses of Romelu Lukaku & Marcelo Brozovic are big-time for Inter. At their best, the Lukaku & Martinez partnership was the best in the league, but now with Lukaku looking at a possible move to Juventus that has now come to an end. Brozovic was Inter’s no-nonsense #6, who was also club captain. The Croatian international has now moved on to join Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. After a heartbreaking loss to Manchester City in the Champions League Final, Inter have very high expectations coming into the season.
This window the Nerazzurri went out and signed forward Marcus Thuram on a free transfer and midfielder Davide Frattesi for €25m from Sassuolo. Star goalkeeper André Onana was massive in the club’s journey to two trophies last year. The Cameroonian international left Milan this summer for a move to Old Trafford for €52.50m. And with Samir Handanović leaving after a long-stint at the club, Inter naturally needed an experienced #1 between the sticks. The solution? Swiss International and former Borussia M’gladbach teammate Marcus Thuram, Yann Sommer for €7m. The next issue for the club is whether or not they can potentially sign another forward. With the departures of both Romelu Lukaku and Edin Dzeko, Simone Inzaghi would like another striker for depth.
The name that has been floating around the transfer world is USMNT international Folarin Balogun. Balogun, who had a very impressive season last year at Stade de Reims, seems to be on top of Inter’s transfer list. After the Scamacca deal collapsed, Inter will be going in once again on the Arsenal striker. If they are able to secure his services, it’ll be very hard not to think that Inter can challenge for the Scudetto this year.
3. AC Milan’s summer renaissance has been special
When Milan let go of Paolo Maldini and sold Sandro Tonali to Newcastle, all Rossoneri fans were heartbroken. Tonali himself was devastated by the move, but after the work they’ve done in this window, it has seemed to be the right move. I mean, it’s hard not to capitalize on becoming the most expensive Italian player in history. Here is what Milan has done in this window concerning departures and arrivals.
IN:
- LW Christian Pulisic, Chelsea (€20m)
- CM Yunus Musah, Valencia (€20m)
- RW Samuel Chukweze, Villareal (€20m)
- FW Noah Okafor, RB Salzburg (€14m)
- CM Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Chelsea (€16m)
- CM Tijani Reijnders, AZ (€19m)
- RW Luka Romero, Lazio (free transfer)
OUT:
- CM Sandro Tonali to Newcastle (€70m)
- RB Serginio Dest to Barcelona (end of loan)
- CM Aster Vrancx to VfL Wolfsburg (end of loan)
- LW Ante Rebic to Beskitas (free transfer)
As far as I’m concerned, that’s pretty good business. With Pulisic coming in to play the Brahim Diaz role, I think he will definitely thrive. Reijnders looks to have a lot of promise, but the signing I’m most exited for is Samuel Chukweze. The Nigerian international is a certified baller and will finally give Milan a proper creative right winger to play with instead of Junior Messias.
Milan made an incredible run to the Champions League semi-finals last year, but sadly missed out on winning a trophy. If they want to get their hands on some silverware this year, they’ll have to rely on their depth. When Rafael Leao went down in the Champions League knockouts last year, the team looked like a shell of itself against crosstown rivals Inter in the first leg. This year, they’ll need their depth to show up week in, week out. And I think the player to have the biggest opportunity to do that will be RW Luka Romero. The Argentinian arrived from Lazio on a free transfer and he’s already shown some great promise in pre-season. I think his spark off the bench will be huge for Pioli & Co. and if he keeps on this path, I believe he can be an incredible player.
4. How will Roma bounce back?
After losing in crushing fashion in the Europa League Final against Sevilla, Roma were able to bounce back at the weekend and win their last Serie A game against Spezia. Those three points helped Roma leap over Juventus for a spot in this season’s Europa League campaign. This victory did come at a cost though, as starting striker Tammy Abraham tore his ACL less than 15 minutes into the match. Despite qualifying for the Europa League, Jose Mourinho & Co. missed out on big money by not securing a Champions League spot (which would’ve been the case if they beat Sevilla in the final). So what was the plan for the summer window?
The first order of business was seeing if manager Jose Mourinho would stay on board with the project. That was quickly answered as Mourinho was seen on video telling the fans that he would be staying in the capital. Next was to bring in some players to help upgrade the squad. The first move of the window was midfielder Houssem Aouar from Olympique Lyon, who signed on a free transfer. Next was Ivorian defender Evan N’Dicka, signed on a free transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt. And the last move was signing former Leeds left-back Rasmus Kristensen from Leeds United on a loan.
A very team-friendly summer window, but they are having trouble finding money for a big signing. Roma were looking at Santos striker Marcos Leonardo, but Santos coordinator Faclåo claimed the proposal from Roma was “too low”. Another option is PSG midfielder Renato Sanches, but Roma are only looking for him on loan. It looks like the years of missing out on Champions League has really cost the club financially, but if there’s any man to turn this around… it’s Jose Mourinho.
5. Will Juventus benefit from not being in Europe?
Getting knocked out in the group stages was rough for the Bianconeri, but if they didn’t receive a 10-point penalty they would’ve been right back in a UCL qualifying spot. That type of hit would break some clubs, but not a club with a history like Juventus. Despite not getting their hands on a Scudetto since the 2019/20 season, their squad this year is looking great. Weston McKennie is coming back to the midfield from a short-loan spell at Leeds United, Tim Weah arrived from Lille this summer & now they are in talks to acquire Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea.
The one catch? The Lukaku deal will only go through if Juventus send Dusan Vlahovic to Chelsea. The Serbian striker had a strong start to his career in Turin, but endured some hard times with form last year. Regardless of that move, I think that Juventus are actually in a good place. Even though Allegri can be rightfully criticized for playing talents like Federico Chiesa out of position, he has been a successful manager in this league. And I think he found a gem with Tim Weah.
Weah played in the pre-season at right wing-back and looked incredible. His creation on the ball, his blistering pace & his able to finish will be a massive upgrade from Juan Cuadrado. The Colombian left on a free transfer to Inter this summer, but with the younger Weah has a very high ceiling and can prove to be one of the best players at his new position.
If Paul Pogba is able to come back into the team fully healthy, I think anything with this squad is possible. I would also love for them to keep Samuel Illing-Junior. He’s an incredible talent and I don’t want them to give up on him this early in his growth as a player.
YSN 2023/24 Serie A Predictions
- Inter
- Juventus
- Milan
- Atalanta
- Napoli
- Roma
- Lazio
- Bologna
- Fiorentina
- Monza
- Genoa
- Sassuolo
- Udinese
- Torino
- Cagliari
- Salernitana
- Empoli
- Hellas Verona
- Lecce
- Frosinone
It’s hard not to pick Inter to bring home the title. Despite losing big-time players like Lukaku and Brozovic, their depth is good enough to keep them at least near the top. The reigning Scudetto winners Napoli, in my opinion, will find it a lot harder to continue their form from last year without Min-jae Kim (who left to Bayern) and head coach Luciano Spalletti, who is taking a break from coaching.
Despite their penalty casting a shadow over their league form last season, I really am high on this Juventus team. And without any European competition to play in this year, they will be able to focus on strictly domestic competitions. I will be very surprised if they don’t get their hands on any silverware this year. For the Rossoneri, I think that they will once again perform greatly but will just miss out on the title.
I also think that Lazio will struggle this year in both the league and the Champions League after losing their best player Sergej Milinković-Savić to Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.
From all the new signings in this window I think that Tim Weah, Samuel Chukweze, Gianluca Scamacca & Houssem Aouar will have the most successful seasons.
In my opinion, Serie A is the second best league in the world. The talent is visible, the atmospheres are incredible & the rivalries are historic. Just last year there was an Italian team in every European Cup Final. I think, and I hope, that the Scudetto will come down to the final day once again like it did in the 2021/22 season. All in all, I’m just happy that football is coming back. This is YSN, until next time, signing out.
