With so many Serie A players in Italy’s Euro 2020 winning team this is a domestic competition which can rightfully boast some of the best players in the world.
Skippered by Giorgio Chiellini the Azzurri’s 23-man squad featured just two players from outside Serie A, the Chelsea duo of Emerson and Jorginho, though keeper Gigi Donnarumma is now set to sign for Paris Saint-Germain for the upcoming season, and Chiellini is a free agent. Players such as the inspirational Lorenzo Insigne and the best newcomer, Federico Chiesa, will be greeted as heroes by their clubs and there will be a greater weight of expectation on their shoulders when the new season gets underway in five weeks time.
According to the pre-season Serie A 2021 betting odds Champions Inter Milan will start the campaign as second favourites with Juventus backed to take the Scudetto back to Turin. But the Old Lady was odds-on favourite to win a tenth successive title last season and this campaign is sure to be fiercely contested.
Deals to be done
In common with other leagues around Europe, the transfer market is yet to get into full swing with Euro 2020 ending just five days ago. But there is plenty of business to be done and the top teams will look to strengthen in the coming weeks. There are no major incomings reported at Juventus, but the Bianconeri have already rejected a 100m Euros bid for Chiesa, from Chelsea.
Coming the other way, Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud is set to complete a move to AC Milan where he will wear the number nine shirt; and he follows Blues defender Fikayo Tomori who has already switched to Milan in a deal worth 30m Euros.
Champions Inter have signed defender Zinho Vanheusden from Standard Liege while Roma have picked up Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio in a cut price 11.5m Euro move from Wolverhampton Wanderers; and Atalanta have shelled out 20m Euros to bring Udinese keeper Juan Musso to Bergamo.
A familiar face will be returning to Lazio when Felipe Anderson completes his move from West Ham, who signed the Brazilian from Lazio in 2018 for £36m, a club record deal. He’s scored 12 goals in 73 appearances for the Hammers and is now on his way back to Rome.
Bans on Spezia and Green strips!
Away from the Italian Euro triumph and the warming transfer market two other stories have caught my attention. The first is the two year transfer ban imposed on Serie A club Spezia; the team which has just survived its first season in the top flight, finishing 15th in the 2020/21 campaign. But they must now cope with a two year ban, imposed by FIFA, having breached the rules governing the international transfer of minors…and quite spectacularly. Spezia Calcio are reported to have illegally brought in 13 young players from Nigeria between 2013 and 2017. All were under 18 when they travelled to Italy from Nigeria, in contravention with FIFA rules, and one such player, Umar Sadiq, arrived at the age of 16 before being sold to Roma for a profit of around 3m Euros.
The two year ban is the biggest handed out by FIFA and will handicap Spezia until summer 2023, which is a major blow to new head coach, former Barcelona and PSG midfield star Thiago Motta who took over at the club in June. Sacked from his previous club Genoa, Motta has a huge task to avoid taking Spezia down to the second tier.
The other ban to hit Serie A is on a colour not a club! The Italian top flight has banned the use of green kits for outfield players, from the start of the 2022/23 campaign, as television producers have said a ban will improve clarity for viewers. Teams will be asked to combine other dominant colours with green.
Sassuolo, know as the Neroverdi, and Venezia, back in the top flight after a 19 year absence, may have to take a look at their kits to see if they can comply, while Lazio’s away lime green jersey will not be allowed…but that’s no loss!
So that’s all for now folks; you can keep up with all the latest Serie A 2021 updates here at SBOTOP, as well as news and features covering all Europe’s top leagues which are set to kick off in the coming weeks.
In the meantime the action just keeps on coming with the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Olympic Games providing the drama, featuring plenty of top players to watch and great match-ups to enjoy.
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