Champions Napoli, Champions League finalists Inter and Juventus are likely to play important roles in the fight for the title and the Champions League respectively in the new season due to different factors. Behind them, however, there are some promising chasers – with names like: Lazio, Milan, Atalanta and Roma.
Milinkovic-Savic gone: Lazio have to stretch themselves
Since 2015, midfield star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic had been loyal to Lazio Roma – seemingly endless rumours here, possible transfer fees of €100 million there. But this summer, when the team of offensive mastermind Maurizio Sarri had qualified for the Champions League for only the second time since 2007/08, the Serbian international jumped ship. For the money. SMS” did not move to Serie A rivals Juventus, as had been discussed for years, but to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
That hurt and still hurts the Lazio soul. But the focus is on the future for the surprise team of the past season: the runners-up must be prepared not to fall away in a tight top group – and that during the dance on three big weddings in the league, the royal class and the Coppa Italia. To this end, it must be seen whether ageing leading players such as Ciro Immobile or Pedro still have enough in the tank – and whether European names that are not quite so big on paper, such as Juventus loanee Nicolo Rovella or Daichi Kamada, will help directly. In any case, it will be difficult to stay in the top 4.
Tonali gone: Milan part new, part old boy
Achieved the minimum goal of qualifying for the Champions League again as reigning champions and advanced to the semi-finals in the latest season of the top flight: On paper, Milan have had a decent 2022/23 season – and have also tied jewel Rafael Leao to the club for the long term. Can it go on like that?
What is clear is that the Rossoneri were clearly defeated by city rivals Inter in the aforementioned semi-final (0:2, 0:1) and could well have ended up in the Europa League. In addition, the Lombards had to give away their ace midfielder Sandro Tonali – admittedly for a lot of money – to CL contenders Newcastle United and watch him convince in his first game directly in the Premier League. On top of that, club icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic (career end) disappeared as a leading figure in the squad, even though he has been almost exclusively injured of late.
Never the less, coach Stefano Pioli’s team can be counted on to finish in the top 4, and there is enough quality to do so: Olivier Giroud has extended his contract, keeper Mike Maignan and winger Theo have stayed on. In addition, the promising new arrivals Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Noah Okafor (Salzburg) and Samu Chukwueze (Villarreal) provide more squad depth.
Höjlund gone: Atalanta
After his training station FC Copenhagen and his short Austrian adventure with Sturm Graz, striker Rasmus Höjland had joined Atalanta Bergamo only a year ago – and had helped the Lombards with many strong performances to finish in 5th place and to be allowed to compete internationally (Europa League) again. However, the 20-year-old Dane is no longer around, Manchester United put 75 million euros on the table and chose Höjlund as their hopeful.
Conversely, Atalanta, still coached by Gian Piero Gasperini, needed fresh supplies for the attack – and came across Italian international Gianluca Scamacca, no longer happy on the island. Together with other new players such as ex-Schalker Sead Kolasinac, ex-Leverkusener Mitchel Bakker and Milan loan professional Charles de Ketelaere, Atalanta should and can succeed. The competition is fierce, however, and with strong competition (champions Napoli, Lazio, Inter, Milan, Roma, Juve), it is unlikely to be enough for Champions League participation at present.
Ibanez gone: Roma and the midfield
It goes without saying that a José Mourinho wants to take his teams to the Champions League. And yet his Roma ultimately ran out of steam a little in the last Serie A season, which is why, after finishing in 6th place, only Europa League qualification was on the cards again. It was also in this competition that “The Special One” suffered his first European final defeat this year (1:4 i.E. against FC Sevilla).
The good thing for the Giallorossi, however, is that the esteemed coach, who has often spoken out against referees and been banned several times for it, has remained true to his Roma project and wants to develop the team further. On this path, important pillars such as veteran Nemanja Matic (Stade Rennes) or defensive great Roger Ibanez (Al-Ahli) broke away from him in the summer – and striker Tammy Abraham will probably be missing until the beginning of 2024 after a cruciate ligament injury. On the other hand, a lot has happened, such as the retention of Bryan Cristante and, of course, the extremely promising new arrivals Evan Ndicka (Eintracht Frankfurt), Houssem Aouar (Olympique Lyon), Argentina’s world champion Leandro Paredes and Renato Sanches – the last three all for midfield.
So if there is more consistency in the results in the future, Roma could move back into the top 4 of Serie A under Mourinho – and possibly return to the Europa League final. That will be the ambition in the “Eternal City”. All the more so if offensive figurehead Paulo Dybala can play a full season without major injury problems.
