Serie A teams have been moderately active over the last two weeks. Atalanta completed the biggest deal by signing Luis Muriel, who was previously at Fiorentina but owned by Sevilla. Inter spent a considerable amount of money to activate the option to buy Matteo Politano from Sassuolo, which was never in doubt despite the formula of the transfer, and youngster Eddy Salcedo from Genoa.
Chievo Verona needed some cash to register to Serie B and few clubs helped them out by poaching the some of their most interesting players: Sampdoria acquired the energetic right back Fabio Depaoli, which will likely lead to the exit of one between Bartosz Bereszynski and Jacopo Sala, while Bologna signed the solid centre-back Mattia Bani, who will contribute to filling in for Lyanco, who was brilliant in the second half of last season but they were unable to retain him after the loan spell from Torino. Genoa added Pawel Jaroszynski, who will provide some depth on the left flank. Cagliari opted to keep Fabrizio Cacciatore on a permanent basis past the temporary stint and he will come in handy since the other right back Darijo Srna announced his retirement earlier this month and joined the Shakhtar Donetsk’s coaching staff.
Few loans have been sorted: Bologna fully purchased Riccardo Orsolini from Juventus and so the winger will be able to build on his impressive finish with the Felsinei. Torino will keep right back Ola Aina in the roster as they have acquired his rights from Chelsea: his final months were a little uneven, but he showed great physical means at the start of the year and Walter Mazzarri likes to rotate his fullbacks. SPAL tried to retain Kevin Bonifazi, but the Granata exercised the buy-back clause and it will be up to them to decide the future of the massive centre-back, who is heavily sought after.
Two new left backs moved to Serie A from abroad: Lecce signed 20-year-old Colombia Brayan Vera from Leones FC, while Fiorentina added 19-year-old Serbian Aleksa Terzic from Red Star Belgrade and we will see whether they will be able to carve a significant role for themselves next season. Udinese brought in Mato Jajalo on a Bosman move from Palermo to bolster their midfield.
Few players have just a week left on their contract and, while some are negotiating with their current clubs, most of them will end up on the market and might find a new home in Serie A. The most relevant one is Roma’s Daniele De Rossi, although his willingness to play for another Italian team is very uncertain. Darko Lazovic proved to be a pretty dynamic contributor in few roles and therefore he should quickly land elsewhere should he leave Genoa.
Milan will let go five players: Cristian Zapata, Ignazio Abate, Andrea Bertolacci, José Mauri and Riccardo Montolivo and there is no shortage of suitors for the first four ones. A mass departure of reserve midfielders that explains the Rossoneri’s activity in that area.
Rodrigo Palacio and Goran Pandev have not renewed with Bologna and Genoa yet, but they are expected to stay put. Jonathan Biabiany’s deal will expire soon and Parma will have to decide whether or not to keep the winger who has struggled with injuries and never left his mark this year. Luca Rigoni is in the same spot, but in this case the player might elect to move on to look for more consistent playing time elsewhere. Lazio’s Dusan Basta will surely take that path, while the utility player Simone Padoin could be helpful for few minnows due to his versatility and locker room presence. Udinese and Genoa have few days to make a decision on the team’s option to extend the contracts of veteran central midfielders Valon Behrami and Miguel Veloso. Emil Hallfredsson instead signed just a short-term deal when he returned in Friuli.
Inter’s back-up goalies, Antonio Padelli and Tommaso Berni are both expiring, like Torino’s one Salvador Ichazo. Among the team that got relegated, the most interesting names available for free are Matias Silvestre, Afriyie Acquah, Stefano Sorrentino, Manuel Pasqual, Marco Andreolli and Cristian Molinaro.
Besides Srna, also Juventus’ Andrea Barzagli and Torino’s Emiliano Moretti have elected to call it quits and Parma’s Massimo Gobbi might join them.
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