Serie A Weekly Transfer Market Recap and Expiring Contracts

politano

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. Continue reading

Matuidi supports Allegri and Marchisio weighs in on Dybala

matuidi

Blaise Matuidi was interviewed by Tuttosport and gave his vote of confidence to Massimiliano Allegri: “He has done a great job here and I hope he will stay. He has shown tremendous abilities and he is an excellent coach.”

On the Atalanta game: “We want to have a good performance at home in order to finish well and celebrate the title in front of our fans.”

On his future: “I am fine at Juventus, I do not have any issues. I will 100 percent stay here, then Mino Raiola will think about the contract extension. He knows about that stuff more than anybody else.” Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 36

paqueta

Juventus: Paulo Dybala (calf), Rodrigo Bentancur (thigh), Emre Can (thigh) and Alex Sandro have resumed practicing fully and therefore should be available on Sunday, while Douglas Costa (calf) and Daniele Rugani (thigh) will not come back this week. Federico Bernardeschi is suspended. Moise Kean is out with the flu, Leonardo Bonucci with a bruised ankle.

Napoli: David Ospina is on personal leave to tend to a personal matter in Colombia. Nikola Maksimovic (toe) is slated to remain on the shelf, while Amadou Diawara (foot) got in a full practice after a long time, so he might be called up. Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne and Adam Ounas have been surprisingly ruled out due to small ailments.
Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 33

khedira

Juventus: Mattia Perin and Sami Khedira will undergo season-ending surgeries for shoulder and knee problems respectively. Paulo Dybala sustained a quad strain against Ajax and will miss at least a couple of weeks. Giorgio Chiellini (calf) might be back next week, while Mario Mandzukic might not be back at all due to patellar tendon issues. Douglas Costa (calf) and Martin Caceres (thigh) will skip the next two matches.

Napoli: Raul Albiol (knee surgery) has resumed practicing and might be called up this week, leaving Amadou Diawara as the only injured player. Nikola Maksimovic will be on the mend for a while due to a foot infraction.  Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 32

ROVETTA 08-07 -2018- ATALANTA  CAMPIONATO SERIE A TIN 2018-19  .Alberto mariani - silpress

Juventus: Blaise Matuidi subbed off against Ajax due to a calf problem, but the injury is not believed to be severe. Emre Can (ankle) and Giorgio Chiellini (calf) will sit Saturday’s game too but they are not distant from returning. Juan Cuadrado is back after knee surgery, while Douglas Costa suffered a new calf problem. Miralem Pjanic, Mario Mandzukic and Cristiano Ronaldo have not been called up for rest purposes.

Napoli: Simone Verdi was scatched late for the previous match due to muscle fatigue, but he was called up for the London trip. Raul Albiol (knee) and Amadou Diawara will miss another one, but at least of them could be back next week.

Inter: Marcelo Brozovic suffered a pull of the semitendinosus muscle in the right pull and will miss the Frosinone game and perhaps one more after that. Lautaro Martinez and Stefan De Vrij are set to be called up after being sidelined by thigh ailments. Continue reading

Serie A Team of the Week – Round 31

pulgar

Marco Sportiello (7 points): few unexpected clean sheets in this round, which had some extraordinary saves, but not by goalkeeper that managed to keep the goal locked up. Among them, Pierluigi Gollini had probably the best performance, but he was docked one point because he was booked. So the shout-out goes the Frosinone player for his alert work in Florence against a pretty good offence.

Erick Pulgar (13 points): the reigning player of the month confirmed his proficiency from the penalty spot by convering two in the span of three minutes.
Continue reading

Serie A Club of the Round – Roma

sampdoriaroma

There was not really any dominant display in this round but Bologna’s one, but at this point the drubbings of Chievo are no longer eligible for this column. The slate featured just two other shutout wins, a surprising but also a bit lucky one by Frosinone in Florence and the other by Roma against Sampdoria on the road, which is enough to take home the weekly honor.

The Giallorossi were freefalling in the standings as they had won just once in the previous five fixtures, in the Claudio Ranieri debut against Empoli, while they had lost to Lazio, SPAL and Napoli and equalized midweek against Fiorentina. They were also eliminated by Porto in Champions League. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Recap – Round 31

kean

Standings implications: Juventus outlasted Milan on Saturday and are now one point away from the title since Napoli were held to a draw by Genoa. Roma were the only ones to succeed among the teams gunning for a Champions League berth and have pulled closer to the Rossoneri and Atalanta, who have just more point. Inter kept the suitors at bay by drawing against the Orobici, while Lazio salvaged a point at the buzzer against Sassuolo. A slow round in the Europa League race too, as Torino could not find a way to perforate Parma and the Blucerchiati were bested at home by the Giallorossi. Fiorentina keep slipping and Stefano Pioli is on the hot seat after the loss to Frosinone. In the relegation zone, Udinese capped off a big week by topping Empoli and moving four points clear of Bologna, which responded and got out of the final three spots on Monday night by trashing Chievo. Cagliari are almost save after sinking SPAL, which stay in precarious position. Frosinone are trying to mount a late comeback that would be quite incredible: the two consecutive Ws put them five points behind Empoli.

Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 29

martinez

Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo picked up a thigh strain while playing with Portugal and is unlikely to play in the next three games. Sami Khedira has been cleared to practice after a heart problem, but it will take him a little longer before playing. Douglas Costa (quad, calf), Juan Cuadrado (knee) and Andrea Barzagli (calf) remain sidelined, while Mattia De Sciglio has recovered from a thigh pull.

Napoli: Fabian Ruiz will be available after a tough flu. Lorenzo Insigne was on track to play but suffered a relapse of a thigh contracture.  Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 28

Empoli v UC Sampdoria - Serie A

Juventus: none among Mattia De Sciglio (thigh), Andrea Barzagli (calf), Dougls Costa (quad, calf), Sami Khedira (heart) and Juan Cuadrado (knee) is expected back this week. The first one is the closest to recovering. Cristiano Ronaldo will be rested. 

Napoli: Lorenzo Insigne was scratched from the XI in Europa League due to a muscular problem in the warm-up. Vlad Chiriches subbed off for the same issue, while Amadou Diawara has a foot infraction: they have all been given a 20-day prognosis. Fabian Ruiz has the flu.

Milan: Cristian Zapata is back in the squad list after spending time on the mend with a thigh strain. Continue reading