Serie A awaits the transfer market. Some global insights

What are fans, if not eternal children? At Christmas, without boxing day in Serie A, all they want is to hang around for hours in that big toy shop that has just been the world championship, dreaming of bringing home the right item for their team. The top flight will resume on 4 January, the transfer market will remain operational for the entire first month of the year, and nothing like a World Cup played between November and December will attract the attention of sporting directors.

Tips for shopping? More than anything else, bargain hunting: it goes without saying that the most obvious names, such as Cody Gakpo, Azzedine Ounahi and Ritsu Doan, will not come out here. But Qatar 2022 has revealed many athletes who, with some cunning in advance, could be the case for each of the twenty teams competing in the Italian national tournament. Ready? Street.

ATALANTA

Giampiero Gasperini’s team would need injections in more than one department, starting with the center of the attack. But the flanks are worrying, especially on the left: Joakim Mæhle goes to alternating current, substitutes Brandon Soppy, Nadir Zortea and Matteo Ruggeri are less convincing. Here then, on the outside, is the Moroccan Yahia Attiyat-Allah: excellent in the two phases, he breaks through like Robin Gosens and delivers loads of crosses. Blitz now or never, before others knock on the door of Wydad Casablanca.

BOLOGNA

Thiago Motta will have to decide on a stable structure for the trocar. Already in La Spezia he favored pure midfielders behind the striker, and defenders lined up in front of the defence. He could think about putting his ideas in order, freeing Lewis Ferguson’s creative flair Saeid Ezatolahi: the 26-year-old Methodist is a reference that would give security to the game system. He has recently lost a friend, killed by the Iranian police: in the city of his rights, his affirmation would go beyond the symbol.

CREMONESE

With the good game, but without defensive solidity, the road appears marked. Therefore he urgently needs to intervene thoroughly, nailing a striker with at least twelve goals, and registering the three-man defense with higher-level players: like Strahinja Pavlovic, Serbian central defender at Red Bull Salzburg and author of a header in the recent match against Cameroon. Physique, detachment, concentration and ascendancy would make him a safe owner to cling to for salvation, but watch out for the cards.

EMPOLI

It seems that Francesco Caputo arrives at the court of Paolo Zanetti, to be exchanged for Sam Lammers. So the zero balance and the frequent medical misadventures of Mattia Destro push us to consider the certainty of the attack as still unresolved: special consideration could be given to Cho Gue-sung, who had won Ghana back with two headers before the comeback. At a certain point, in South Korea’s non-deficient World Cup, hopes began to rest on him.

FLORENTINE

The bizarre case of a failed world champion. Nicolás Gonzalez was removed by Lionel Scaloni from the skimming of valid and enlisted candidates, and not even Riccardo Sottil has fully recovered yet: therefore, on the side of external attackers, Vincenzo Italiano’s band could still operate in entry. Portuguese Ricardo Horta Viola would do just the thing: he’s a second striker, hungry for goals against the Koreans, he sees goal well and wouldn’t conflict with some exuberant ego of others.

HELLAS VERONA

Last in the standings, a not very virtuous tangle in skills on the bench: saying that every department would have to be redone is obvious. But a character guide is needed, since Miguel Veloso feels the weight of the years and the rust from the bench: why not converge towards the Australian Jackson Irvine, who risked scaring France with a post at 0-1 and never failed to provide a mobile dam in front of the defence? For the skeptics: it will not be worse than Hongla…

INTER

Five months to still believe it. Before some painful transfer, Steven Zhang is called to demonstrate how much he wants to lay the foundations for winning again: although the combination with Alexis Mac Allister (the new Esteban Cambiasso?) is suggestive, the performance of Niclas Füllkrug Jürgen Klinsmann’s driving force flashed against Spain and Costa Rica. With these credentials it is possible to bet, perhaps without spending a lot: he is not a champion, but when he is healthy he pays off.

JUVENTUS

There are many flaws in Massimiliano Allegri’s team. More than the Livorno-born trainer himself is able to admit: for some years, for example, the left out has been the prerogative of Alex Sandro, exhausted although qualitative. Danilo and Mattia de Sciglio are substantial stopgaps, hence the candidacy of the American Antonee Robinson it would not be unusual: the boy was already in the sights of the Milanese, and in Qatar he confirmed himself among the best of their team. He is just waiting to explode.

LAZIO

Punctually Maurizio Sarri’s formation is underestimated, compared to the ranking he will have at the end. Yet the coach is right, his tricks send the opponents into a tailspin and show that a lot can be done even with snubbed ingredients. In this picture, Djibril Sow he would fit in perfectly: attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder, wide to return, he has yet to consecrate himself and among the Biancocelesti he could cause a sensation. Alternatively, battle at Inter for Füllkrug, the deputy Immobile.

LECCE

Dazzling flashes and periodic forgetfulness, this has been Marco Baroni’s Lecce so far. Unless the championship ends now, getting lost is a snap. Gabriel Strefezza indispensable, not as much Lameck Banda or Federico Di Francesco: then space for the all-right Japanese Junya Ito, capable of expanding a midfield to four as well as gravitating to the offensive zone, with assists and a constant presence in the game. Long gone are the days when Japanese people were bought to sell T-shirts.

MILAN

A heavy eighth-final against Tottenham Hotspur and the run-up to Napoli in the league. It will be months of fire for Stefano Pioli, grappling with the short blanket of midfield: Sandro Tonali and Ismaël Bennacer in pole position, Rade Krunić and Tommaso Pobega chasing, Aster Vranckx awaiting his moment. Therefore the new corporate structure could invest in the new world champion Alexis MacAllisterand obtain evident benefits in terms of dynamism and versatility: it will be a race to the top.

MONZA

The stabbing against Pablo Marì (he’s burning time to return in mid-January) has opened the doors of ownership to Fabio Caldirola, but it is clear that a prominent element could help the Brianza defense not to suffer too much. One like Mohammed Salisu of Ghana, very present in dead-ball actions, with a growing international standing: it won’t be impossible to take him away from Southampton and snatch him from their rivals, but Silvio Berlusconi’s club has the arguments.

NAPLES

Put like this, it doesn’t need anything. But perhaps to rethink the defensive structure: with Rrahmani back and the certainty of Kim Min-jae, he still hasn’t completely convinced – see friendlies – the leap in quality of Leo Østigård and Juan Jesus. Then work under the track to corner Antonio Silva from Benfica it could be a forward-looking operation, but also to be exploited immediately. The Italian champions in (their) pectore would get their hands on a very young, already prepared and ambitious champion.

ROME

Trigoria needs an intervention site-specific, or replacement straight for straight, since Rick Karsdorp broke up with José Mourinho, and Zeki Çelik can’t be enough. The choice may fall on Josip Juranović, who defends from full-back and crosses from the wing: Celtic Glasgow’s right wing is his home, he came out of the World Cup as the best in his role, at 27 he has the last chance to become someone. Were continuity the one shown in Qatar, it would often be found to be decisive.

SALERNITANA

Davide Nicola can do something more, say the bar critics. But he urgently needs to forget the frills: able to swing between the arm in a three-man defense and the fifth on the left, he is Jesus Gallardo, record holder of minutes played under the management of “Tata” Martino, author of intense performances against Poland and Saudi Arabia. Together with the centre-back Cesar Montes and the sniper Luis Chávez, he represents the talent that Mexican football can show to the world: and Guillermo Ochoa has just arrived in Salerno…

SAMPDORIA

He would need much more, Dejan Stanković, to reorganize the blucerchiati and lead them to the port of salvation. But, at least to begin with, a director tested to certain levels would be the key to creating dangers: Tunisia has in Ellyes Shkiri and Aïssa Laïdouni two complementary elements, capable of putting Denmark and France in difficulty. The first is more suited to verticalization, the second has a strong character: with these clear moons, in Marassi they would accept anything to save themselves.

SASSUOLO

In the game of mirrors set up by the market men, only Jeremy Toljan does not have a textual change on the right, after the serious injury to Mert Müldür. Instead of adapting Kaan Ayhan, coach Alessio Dionisi would find the arrival of a specialist much more convenient: Richmond Laryea he impressed with his physical strength and speed in the first matches against Canada, and from what we saw in Qatar he appears mature to cover the entire range in a balanced way, even in the current Italian Serie A.

SPICE

DNA, even in football, means something. If for two years you play stuffed with defenders (lined up everywhere), if your squad abounds – and they are happy – with Poles, one plus one equals two: Krystian Bielik it was born in the rear and then moved to the front, to act as a dam. His starting role in the national team was not expected, and moreover in midfield, following in the wake of Jakub Kiwior: yet it happened, without disfiguring, indeed allowing the elements with the most imagination to express themselves.

TURIN

Reliable in defence, with the department gathered around Perr Schuurs and goalkeeper Vanja Milinković-Savić; brilliant close to goal, with Nikola Vlašić and Nemanja Radonjić, Torino continues to fall short in midfield, but above all in the goal area. Vincent Aboubakar it could turn out to be in double figures, after his performances and the two (irrelevant) goals against Serbia and Brazil, everyone noticed it. Would you leave Arab football to try and rewrite history? There’s no harm in trying.

UDINESE

Once again the partnership with Watford bodes well for the Friulian club. In fact, he came to light at the World Cup Ismaila Sarr: through decisive goals and intoxicating actions he kept the Senegal attack on its feet almost alone, without Sadio Mané. In Udine it would allow Beto to get back in perfect shape, alternating with Gerard Deulofeu to support Isaac Success and constituting a tantalizing tactical alternative to unbolt difficult matches: a phone call is enough for Giampaolo Pozzo.