This week was dominated by the transfer market: Juventus and Milan pulled off a three-part deal involving Gonzalo Higuain, Leonardo Bonucci and Mattia Caldara; Inter acquired Sime Vrsaljko from Atletico Madrid, while Lazio signed Joaquin Correa from Sevilla and former Fiorentina midfielder Milan Badelj.
Chievo Verona were deferred again with the accusation of making false profits in several trades with Cesena as the prosecutor hopes to have solved the defect of form that prevented the case from going to trial a couple of weeks ago. Crotone, which would be re-admitted in Serie A if the Gialloblù got relegated, asked to postpone the first two games of both teams. However, this late in the summer, the punishment is more likely to affect the 2018/2019 standings.
Atalanta redeemed themselves after the gaffe in the first leg and humiliated Sarajevo in the second one, scoring eight goals on the road, with Musa Barrow bagging a hat-trick. After nine years, Milan finally brought back Paolo Maldini, who will be the new director of sporting strategy and developmnet.
Fiorentina signed Kevin Mirallas on loan from Everton, who figures to be a key reserve in their squad, but will also have the opportunity to start here and there. He was fairly productive in the Premier League before falling out of favour and loaned out to Olympiacos.
Sampdoria found their Lucas Torreira replacement as they have invested a decent sum to purchase Ronaldo Vieira from Leeds United. Sassuolo purchased Enrico Brignola from Benevento, who was promising in his rookie season and will re-unite with coach Roberto De Zerbi.
Some other midfielders’ news: Cagliari acquired Filip Bradaric from Rijeka, who was part of Croatia World Cup roster and could easily become a starter, Empoli brought in Leonardo Capezzi on loan from Sampdoria and Genoa did the same with the gritty Esteban Rolon from Malaga. Bologna’s Godfred Donsah suffered a fibula fracture and will be sidelined for two months.
Udinese continue to overhaul their goalkeeping corps and signed Nicolas on loan from Hellas Verona, who will be the contingency plan if Juan Musso does not pan out. The Zebrette sold Emil Hallfredsson to Frosinone, which could use his quality and experience in the midfield.
Parma signed one of the most recognizable Serie B players of the last few years: the winger Cristian Galano from Bari, who is coming off a tremendous season where he tallied 15 goals and could see a lot of playing time.
Teams continue to offload players who are no longer needed: Sassuolo loaned the attacker Antonino Ragusa to Hellas Verona, Bologna sold Bruno Petkovic to Dinamo Zagreb. A couple of defenders left Italy to move to Brazil: Milan’s Gustavo Gomez joined Palmeiras on loan with option to buy, while Leandro Castan agreed to a deal with Vasco da Gama after being released by Roma.
Let’s finish off with a couple of news not directly Serie A-related. Bari failed to register to Serie B and Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis won the race to rebuild the club starting from Serie D, the same way he did with the Partenopei way back then. Juventus were the only side to create a second team in Serie C, while few others refused to do the same even though there were few spots open.
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