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  • Storylines to watch in Serie A during January window
Storylines to watch in Serie A during January window

Storylines to watch in Serie A during January window

The January transfer window in Italy is often called the “mercato di riparazione” (market to repair things) because it’s usually a time where clubs address injuries or positions they failed to upgrade enough during the summer. While it’s rare to see huge deals in the winter window, there are plenty of positions that need to be addressed by the top Serie A teams, let’s take a look at some of the major story lines we should see addressed in the coming weeks:
 
How will the delay with closing impact Milan? Before the closing of the deal with Chinese investors got postponed once again, there was a lot of hope that Milan would finally go back to spending significantly in January in an effort to get back to the Champions League. But with another frustrating delay we can assume we won’t see Milan go after like Cesc Fabregas and Musacchio.

But there is still reason for optimism even if Milan will almost certainly have to sell before they buy. The fact that Milan is clearly in contention to make it back to the Europe that matters, makes it likely Adriano Galliani will likely be motivated to get creative. Some of his transfer moves from last summer are starting to pay off especially Pasalic and Lapadula, so the Condor may feel emboldened to continue to make acquisitions.



Lapadula’s emergence could allow Milan to move Carlos Bacca for a considerable return. The Colombian striker still has a considerable market and could be a good acquisition for Paris St Germain, West Ham, Arsenal and clubs in Spain (likely his preferred destination). Should Milan be able to get back close to the 30 million they invested in Bacca, they could upgrade the midfield and/or the defense. Look for Milan to be involved in numerous rumors also for players with expiring contracts that they could sign for next season, the rossoneri will also be busy working on extensions for key players like Donnarumma and Bonaventura.

How will Napoli address the central striker position? After a period in which they struggled even in home matches, Napoli has put together three impressive wins in a row against Inter, Benfica and Cagliari- they are back to playing like a Sarri coached team. While the partenopei look great now, they struggled for weeks to offset the loss of central striker Milik- president De Laurentiis and sporting director Giuntoli (Sarri isn’t involved with transfer moves) had done a great job improving the depth on defense and midfield, but not so much the attack.

Manolo Gabbiadini was handed a great opportunity to show he could lead the line of a top club after Milik’s injury, but the lefty striker never got on a roll and was often subbed out despite the lack of another central striker on the squad. It’s possible his level is more to be the main man at a team like Bologna rather than a team contending for a Serie A title or Champions League spot.



​While Napoli has also been linked to Luis Muriel and Simone Zaza, their top target appears to be Genoa striker Pavoletti who however needs to prove he’s healthy. Pavoletti is a more realistic target now that Napoli qualified out of the group stage of the CL, and would likely be an upgrade over Gabbiadini.

​With Ghoulam and Koulibaly heading to the Africa Cup in January, it will be interesting to see if Napoli gives Tonelli, Maksimovic and Strinic more playing time or if they try to find a reinforcement for their defense on the market.

Who will leave Inter in January? After spending the most net of sales last summer, Inter finds itself in a precarious situation going into the January transfer. The nerazzurri are out of the Europa League and scudetto race and it would take a miracle from the Madonnina for them to contend for a Champions League spot. As vice president Javier Zanetti recently stated, the club will be focused on moving players since they are no longer competing on three fronts.



Inter will almost certainly move at least one midfielder out of the Kondogbia, Banega, Brozovic and Felipe Melo group. It will be almost impossible to find someone willing to pay what is left of Kondogbia amortized transfer fee (around 23 million euro) so he would likely have to be shipped out on loan with option to buy in a move reminiscent of Iturbe’s transfer to Bournemoth last winter. Considering that Banega signed an a free transfer, it would be the easiest to turn a quick profit on him- but it remains to be seen if Inter is willing to pull the plug on him so quickly.

​While Brozovic just recently agreed to an extension, he could still be moved if the right offer comes in. The midfielder has performed well recently and he has always had a market in the Premier League, while he does have a 50 million euro exit clause (valid only outside of Italy), he could be sold for less to help address some of the Financial Fair Play concerns.

It will be very interesting to see what Inter decides to do with Gabigol. While moving Jovetic (linked to Sampdoria and Fiorentina) and Banega would get him closer to the pitch, after the match against Genoa Pioli once again reiterated that he doesn’t feel the Brazilian striker has acclimated himself enough to Italian football.



Which midfielders will Juventus bring in? While the bianconeri had a very sexy mercato by bringing in Higuain, Pjanic, Dani Alves, Pjaca, Cuadrado and Benatia they failed to address a key need- replacing the muscle they lost in midfield once Pogba ended his holiday in Torino to return to Manchester United.

To be fair to Marotta and Paratici, they did have Axel Witsel at the club’s headquarters on the last day of the summer transfer window- but they failed to get Zenit to agree to a deal before the window closed. Juventus is now ready to rectify the situation but first should thank their lucky stars Sami Khedira was able to stay healthy almost the entire time Marchisio recovered from his knee surgery- considering Pjanic’s struggles to settle in, they could have had a very rough start to the season because of not addressing the midfield enough.

​There is growing optimism within Juventus camp that they will be able to convince Zenit to let Witsel leave in January, they have leverage since the bianconeri already have an agreement with midfielder once his current contract expires in June. Considering that Lemina and Asamoah will play in the Africa Cup, it’s not out of the question the bianconeri sign two midfielders in January, which brings us to…



​Will Atalanta sells some of their jewels?  After a slow start under Gasperini, Atalanta became this year’s version of Sassuolo. They played an offensive style with numerous young Italian players, and before the recent losses to Juventus and Udinese, started to draw comparisons to Leicester.

It will be interesting to see if Atalanta goes all out for a Europa League spot by holding on to all their jewels in January or if they decide to start cashing making avoiding relegation comfortably the goal. The player with the biggest market is of course Frank Kessie, whose been linked to Juventus, Napoli and many top Premier League clubs.

​There are reports of Juventus offering Atalanta, a club they have done a lot of business with for over 30 years, 75 million to acquire Kessie in January while leaving defender Caldara and midfielder Gagliardini in Bergamo until the end of the season. Atalanta will also look to offload striker Paloschi (the highest paid player on squad) in the January window since he’s no longer part of Gasperini’s plans.


 
How will Frederic Massara perform in his first transfer window as Roma’s sporting director? The giallorossi have been able to do well despite numerous injuries to key players like Rudiger, Florenzi and newcomer Mario Rui. But replacing Mohamed Salah, who is expected to play in Africa Cup will be a big test for new sporting director Frederic Massara who was promoted to the top position after being Walter Sabatini’s assistant.

Roma has been linked to Atalanta’s Papu Gomez and Sassuolo’s Defrel, who have the advantage of knowing Serie A over a more sexy name like Depay. The giallorossi may also just go with El Shaarawy in hopes the former Milan winger has another great second half to the season like earlier in 2016.

In addition to bolstering the squad, Massara will have to work on numerous key extensions including negotiations with Nainggolan, Manolas and Strootman. It will be interesting to see if Massara follows Inter and Napoli’s lead by inserting exit clauses valid only outside of Serie A if he can reach an agreement with these three core players.
 
 
 

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