Winners of January Window in Serie A

Serie A with Bosman Signings

For the second year in a row Juventus was able to sign a midfielder from the Premier League with Aaron Ramsey following in Emre Can’s footsteps. Whether both or even either of them proves to be effective enough to truly upgrade the bianconeri’s biggest weakness remains to be seen, but managing to sign both when there was significant competition to do so is still a sign of strength on the market.

While Juventus looked to expiring contract market to address a weakness, Inter doubled down on a significant strength by agreeing to terms with Diego Godin. The Uruguyan center back gives the nerazzurri significant flexibility- is he coming to form a formidable 3 man back line alongside Milan Skriniar and Stevan De Vrij with Antonio Conte looking like a heavy favorite to replace Luciano Spallerri next season, or is he coming to replace either Miranda or Skriniar who could break transfer fee record for a defender set by Virgil van Dijk? 

Milan

While there was disappointment that Leonardo and Maldini weren’t able to close the deal for either Carrasco or Deulofeu, the rossoneri are still the most improved team competing for a Champions League spot and despite the complaining by fans over the unfairness of FFP, no club in Europe spent more than the rossoneri during the January window.

Piatek and Paqueta fit in well with the request of their nucleus (Donnarumma, Romagnoli, Bakayoko and Suso) both for their age and characteristics on the pitch. Higuain’s departure could also end up being a significant addition by subtraction since he was becoming a substantial distraction.

Pantaleo Corvino

When you look at Fiorentina’s sporting ability to discover talents, it’s really no surprise that Fabio Paratici refers to him as a “maestro”. During the January window Corvino leveraged his personal relationship with Luis Muriel which dates back to their time together at Lecce to convince him to join the viola over Milan. The Colombian striker is off to a flying start on Pioli’s squad and is giving the contributions many expected from Marko Pjaca.

While Muriel has made an immediate impact, Corvino also got a substantial head start on the summer window by signing Empoli’s Traore’ and Rasmussen who will finish the season on Iachini’s squad where they can play regularly as well as Polish talent Zurkowski. 

Sampdoria 

The blucerchiati brought Manolo Gabbiadini back to Serie A to offer Marco Giampaolo another option up front following Defrel’s production plummeting in recent months. Gabbiadini is versatile enough to be a good complimentary piece to Fabio Quagliarella this season while also having enough talent to have more of a role as a protagonist in coming season.

In addition to Gabbiadini, Sampdoria also redeemed the rights to stand out keeper Emil Audero from Juventus. The former Venezia backstop has been one of the best at his position in Serie A this season and considering his young age, they would be able to sell him for substantially more than the paid last week.

Bologna 

The felsinei started the season with one of the worst squads in Serie A following Simone Verdi’s departure and Mattia Destro becoming an expensive backup. The club acted quickly in the January window by signing both Sansone and Soriano, two above average offensive weapons to help support Santander and Palacio. Their early arrival gave Pippo Inzaghi a fair chance to try to turn things around, but the team continued to struggle as proven by the fact they haven’t won a match since late September.

After Sinisa Mihajlovic replaced Inzaghi, Bologna made two more additions with defender Lyanco and winger Edera who both arrive from Torino on loan. The team is now in much better position to avoid relegation since they have a battle tested manager with an improved squad.

Cagliari 

The Sardinian club’s main accomplishment in January was to hold on to stand out midfielder Nicolo’ Barella who was heavily linked to Chelsea and Napoli. Roberto Mancini must also be happy with this development since Barella will finish the season in a system where he’s comfortable and also the star.

While it’s almost certain that Barella will leave in the summer, Cagliari already brought in his replacement for next season in Christian Oliva, who arrived from Nacional for 4 million plus bonuses. The Uruguayan midfielder will have a few months to get acclimated to Serie A before he’s acted to take on a substantial role. 

In addition, Cagliari added two veterans who have a lot of experience in the race to avoid relegation in Thereau, who can either start next to or replace Pavoletti and Valter Birsa who had his best season playing for the Sardinian club’s manager Maran when they were together at Chievo.

Parma 

The newly promoted built on the strong momentum from their excellent first half of the season by adding defensive midfielder Kucka who has a lot of experience in Serie A. The former Milan player already made a big impact in the surprising draw against Juventus at Allianz Stadium on Saturday and could be an important player next season as well.

Parma were also able to retain their best defender Bruno Alves, who recently signed an extension, after he was linked to Juventus as a possible replacement for Benatia and Inter who were looking for insurance on Miranda’s potential departure.