It was a great summer for Italy after they won Euro 2020, but the same could not be said of Serie A, which lost a number of its top stars during the transfer window.
Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo have returned to the Premier League while Achraf Hakimi and Gianluigi Donnaruma have both gone to Paris.
Nevertheless, there was still some interesting business done by the top Serie A clubs as they compete for a title race that looks wide open this season.
So here are SBOTOP’s big winners and losers from the summer transfer window in Serie A.
Loser: Serie A
Without a doubt, Serie A suffered quite a disappointing summer. They lost the likes of Lukaku, Ronaldo, Hakimi, and Donnarumma, which significantly reduced the number of top stars in the league.
While there were differing circumstances to those departures, they still highlighted the fact that Serie A is not the force it once was, and its clubs continue to struggle competing financially with other top clubs in Europe.
Winner: Juventus
Despite losing Ronaldo, though, Juventus should still consider themselves marginal winners. They were still able to extract a decent transfer fee from Manchester United for the wantaway 36-year-old star; Manchester City had reportedly only wanted Ronaldo a free transfer.
Meanwhile, Juventus also did one of the best pieces of business by bringing in midfielder Manuel Locatelli, one of the breakout stars of Euro 2020. They also brought back Moise Kean on loan from Everton to help fill the void left by Ronaldo up front.
All things considered, it was still a decent summer for Juve and returning boss Massimiliano Allegri, who no longer has to deal with the Ronaldo drama.
Loser: Inter
Inter Milan were always going to be one of the biggest losers of the summer after losing both Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi, not to mention title-winning coach Antonio Conte, due to Chinese owners Suning’s financial woes.
But in fairness to the reigning Italian champions, they did some decent business to mitigate those losses.
Edin Dzeko and Hakan Calhanoglu both arrived on free transfers and looked good in their debut. Denzel Dumfries will try to replace Hakimi on the right. New coach Simone Inzaghi also brought in Joaquin Correa, who showed at Lazio that he was quite a capable second striker.
And most importantly, Inter were able to hold onto star striker Lautaro Martinez amid links to a possible move to the Premier League.
It certainly wasn’t a great summer for Inter, but it could have been so much worse.
Winner: Roma
Jose Mourinho’s appointment was obviously the most attention-grabbing piece of business Roma did this summer, but their transfer dealings deserve notice as well.
For starters, they swapped out ageing duo of Edin Dzeko and Pedro for Tammy Abraham and Eldor Shomurodov. Shomurodov had a terrific season with Genoa last season, scoring eight goals in 31 games, while Abraham had made a great start and is already making Serie A 2021 highlights.
Roma also added Matias Vina to fill in at left-back for the injured Leonardo Spinazzola, made Roger Ibanez’s loan deal permanent, and brought in veteran Rui Patricio to address their glaring weakness at goalkeeper.
Keep an eye on Roma’s Serie A 2021 odds because on paper, the ‘Special One’ now has quite a capable squad with which he could do some special things on his return to Italy.
Loser: Lazio
Speaking of new managers in Rome, Maurizio Sarri is having a sensational start in Lazio. The Biancocelesti currently lead the league with two wins in two games, with nine goals scored.
But based on their summer transfer business alone, Lazio must be considered losers. Their biggest move was to bring back Felipe Anderson, a talented but mercurial winger who has consistently fallen out of favour with managers over his career. They also brought in 34-year-old Pedro after losing key forwards Joaquin Correa and Felipe Caicedo, who scored eight goals apiece last season.
Perhaps Sarri-ball will simply solve all the weak spots within this Lazio squad. But if an injury should hit captain and talisman Ciro Immobile or another key player, their failure to provide adequate cover will come back to bite them.
Winner: Milan
The third and final winner spot came down to two clubs: Fiorentina and AC Milan.
Fiorentina signed in-demand Argentine forward Nicolas Gonzalez from Stuttgart, and landed Lucas Torreira and Alvaro Odriozola on loan from Arsenal and Real Madrid, respectively. And most crucial of all, they held onto star striker Dusan Vlahovic, who was on the radar of several big clubs.
But despite the Viola’s fine moves, Milan gets the vote.
Milan rallied from the loss of Gigi Donnarumma by making a number of shrewd moves. They captured Fikayo Tomori, Tiemoue Bakayoko, and Olivier Giroud from Chelsea, and raided Ligue 1 for keeper Mike Maignan, Fode Ballo-Toure, and Yacine Adli, a highly touted midfield prospect, for good deals. They also made Sandro Tonali’s deal permanent in a significantly cut-price deal.
Those moves may not make Milan serious title contenders this season, but they do represent great value and could pay off quite handsomely in the future.
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