We are heading onto “squeaky bum” time across Europe, but in Serie A plans are well underway for what promises to be a very interesting offseason.
Here is a team by team look at who the big five in Italy will looking to buy.
Juventus
Juve have failed to land a world class striker in either of the last two transfer windows, and there is no doubt that the Italian champions-elect will go hard after a big name goalscorer again this summer.
The big question is why?
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, the key man at the head of all the transfer activity across Europe is Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Ibra is being heavily linked with a move back to Italy from PSG this summer, with Juventus the most likely destination for the striker.
Officially Ibra is out of the Bianconeri’s price range, but I keep hearing persistent reports that Juve and PSG are talking and that a deal is possible if Ibrahimovic agrees to a pay cut.
If not Ibrahimovic then who? There are a series of other top striker linked with a move to Juventus (Luis Suarez, Stevan Jovetic and Alexis Sanchez). Suarez and Jovetic were Juventus targets last summer while Sanchez has been heavily linked with a move to Inter. It could be that if they miss out on brahimovic, that Juventus could well miss out again on signing a top striker.
Inter Milan
There appears to be plenty of movement at Inter as they rebuild the side that won the treble in 2010.
Inter have already signed Sampdoria striker Mauro Icardi for €15m + bonuses. The 19-year-old Argentinian is one of the hottest properties in Italian football.
The Nerazzurri have also been linked with Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, but he seems out of their price range, especially after signing Icardi.
Inter is also linked with three Barcelona players. In addition to Sanchez, Inter are said to be tracking Alex Song and Martin Montoya.
I can see Inter landing one of the three Barca players, but the club does not have the money to buy anymore than that these days, especially after buying several players in the January transfer window.
AC Milan
Milan spent a lot of money signing Mario Balotelli in January, so it will be interesting to see how much they do spend this summer.
It’s no secret that AC Milan Vice President Adriano Galliani has already begun talks with Genoa for Juraj Kucka and Luca Antonelli.
But that’s not all. Milan are said to be very interested in Dutch pair Strootman and Martins Indi . Plus the Milan defence needs strengthening, which iswhy a potential move for Ogbonna should not be overlooked, despite significant competition from abroad.
Napoli
Napoli’s offseason revolves around the future of Edinson Cavani, who has been linked with a big money move to the Premier League for the last year or so.
It looks like that Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis thinks Cavani will be leaving as Napoli are said to be in talks with Brazilian side Internacional over the signing of Leandro Damiao. Damiao will not be cheap, and Napoli would not be going after him unless they were sure that they were receiving money from a Cavani transfer.
Lazio
Lazio President Claudio Lotito is a big fan of Santos talent Felipe Anderson, and after seeing a deal in January fall apart over pennies, I expect that deal to be concluded this summer. If Lotito can bring in Anderson and Swiss international Xhaka, who is currently shining at Borussia Monchengladbach, then the Biancocelesti fans will call that a very successful summer.
