The transfer market is not exactly raging in the first couple of weeks of January, but there were still some noteworthy transfers. The biggest one was completed by Sampdoria, which brought back Manolo Gabbiadini, who will likely replace Dawid Kownacki up front. Gabbiadini has never been a particularly prolific scorer, but he has an intriguing skillset that could mesh well with any of his new teammates. The Blucerchiati have also secured the signing of the 22-year-old midfielder Morten Thorsby, who will join for free from Heerenveen in the summer.
Rolando Maran chose another ex-Chievo man to substitute the injured Lucas Castro: Valter Birsa, who has had a subpar season thus far, but could thrive after the reunion and will have a clearer role at Cagliari. He might not be a full-time starter, but they certainly needed a creative trequartista to fill the void. The Sardinians sold one of their mainstays, Daniele Dessena, who has moved to Brescia.
Udinese brought in two players on loan from Watford: Stefano Okaka and Marvin Zeegelaar. The striker gives them more physical presence up front since Lukasz Teodorczyk has been out for a big chunk of time following sports hernia surgery. They might go with a more traditional front-line moving forward, rather than using Ignacio Pussetto or Rodrigo De Paul there. Kevin Lasagna might lose some minutes, but, in the past, he has performed better while pairing with a muscular centre-forward who could do the dirty work for him. The left back replaces Samir, who is out for few more months due to an ankle sprain, and Giuseppe Pezzella, who is about to move to Genoa. He will duel with Marco D’Alessandro to start on the left flank. The striker Felipe Vizeu did not pan out and was loaned to Gremio.
Alfred Gomis has been serviceable so far, but SPAL still decided to bring in a bigger name to defend their goal: Emiliano Viviano on loan from Sporting CP, where he never got to play because Sinisa Mihajlovic was ousted right away this summer after a shake-up in the management. He was solid, but a little injury prone at Sampdoria. In more goalkeeping news, Genoa are likely moving on from Federico Marchetti and signed Jandrei from Chapecoense, who is more experienced than Andrei Radu and will challenge him from the starting job.
Frosinone added one more midfielder: Luca Valzania, who did not see the pitch much at Atalanta, but was very solid in Serie B last year. The Goddess also sent the talented centre-back Davide Bettella on loan to Pescara.
As always in the Winter, teams are trimming the rosters and letting go players that have not gotten much playing time. SPAL said goodbye to Everton Luiz, who has joined Real Salt Lake City on a year-long loan. Frosinone sold the veteran Danilo Soddimo to Cremonese, while the once touted Gianluca Gaudino has left Chievo Verona to join Young Boys Bern on a free transfer. Parma loaned the winger Alessio Da Cruz to Spezia.
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