Serie A Weekly News Recap

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The transfer market formally opened this week and so a flurry of moves were made official. Gianluigi Buffon joined PSG; Inter signed Stefan De Vrij and Kwadwo Asamoah on free transfers and acquired Lautaro Martinez from Racing; Milan brought in Pepe Reina, Ivan Strinic and Alen Halilovic without paying anything.

Napoli announced the arrivals of Alex Meret and Orestis Karnezis from Udinese and Fabian Ruiz from Real Betis, for whom they paid around €30M. Sampdoria have bought Jakub Jankto from Udinese, who totalled nine goals and 12 assists over the last two seasons with the Zebrette. A dynamic player who is looking for more consistency and had grown disgruntled in Friuli. He could make the leap in a more offensive-minded scheme. After two underwhelming seasons, Roma have basically bid farewell to Bruno Peres: he was loaned for a year and a half to Sao Paulo, which will have an option to sign him permanently.

Fiorentina were looking for a goalkeeper after not retaining Marco Sportiello, who has then joined Frosinone on loan, and in typical Pantaleo Corvino fashion they opted for a high upside youngster: Alban Lafont from Toulouse. Genoa have found their new starting goalie with Lazio reject Federico Marchetti and are overhauling the roster. Just this week, they have purchased Sandro, who was very solid at Benevento last year, Luca Mazzitelli from Sassuolo and Ivan Lakisevic from Vojvodina. They sent Francesco Migliore back to Serie B, to Cremonese. The Grifone was involved in another fairly big move: they have sold Armando Izzo to Torino for €8M. A very good get for the Granata, which bolster their back-line with a very talented player at a relatively contained cost.

Sassuolo have brought back a familiar face to Serie A: Kevin Prince Boateng, who is coming off two pretty good seasons abroad. They have also unveiled their new coach Roberto De Zerbi, however he will be disqualified for the first seven games due to some under-the-table payments in his time at Foggia.

Bologna made official a bunch of stuff this week. They have sold Adam Masina to Watford: he was in the last year of his contract and they could not to an extension. Also, in Serie A he did not completely fulfil the potential he had shown. They have put together a rare trade with Sassuolo: Federico Di Francesco will move to the Neroverdi, Diego Falcinelli to the Felsinei. It is on paper a transfer that benefits both players: Filippo Inzaghi has no use for wingers in his 3-5-2 and Falcinelli can pair up with any of the other strikers upfront; Di Francesco is set to absorb Matteo Politano’s minutes and could thrive in a team that has been a launching pad for youngster. The Rossoblù also acquired 19-year-old central midfielder Mattias Svanberg from Malmoe.

Empoli outbid Sampdoria for Palermo’s highly rated centre-foward Antonino La Gumina, who was red-hot from January on. Atalanta are always hunting for talented prospect and the latest one comes from Cittadella: Marco Varnier, who is well-rounded defender and had impressive showings in Serie B at a young age. He and Gianluca Mancini will have the tough task of replacing Mattia Caldara.  Parma beat the competition for Venezia standout Leo Stulac, a modern box-to-box midfielder who is also a great shooter. Juventus have signed the young centre-back Giangiacomo Magnani from Perugia, who will likely be loaned to another Serie A team.

Chievo have said goodbye to two cornerstones: the contracts of Dario Dainelli and Massimo Gobbi were not been renewed. Spal released Marco Borriello after a very disappointing season, where he missed half of the game due to a calf injury and scored just once. The Estensi brought in a pair of youngsters: the goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic from Torino, who is the frontrunner to be their starting goalie, and Mattia Valoti from Hellas Verona, who had some interesting stretches last season and netted three goals. Former Napoli staple Christian Maggio was a free agent and found a new home in Benevento, therefore staying in the region. He will team up with ex-Milan Antonio Nocerino.

Let’s finish off with some off-the-pitch movements. SPAL’s coach Leonardo Semplici has signed a two-year extension. After parting ways with Giancarlo Romairone, Sassuolo have brought back Giovanni Rossi as sporting director, who had moved to Cagliari last season but was fired in April. The Neroverdi promoted Stefano Morrone to U19 coach. Former Sampdoria scout Riccardo Pecini is Empoli’s new general manager.

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