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Serie A’s January Shopping List

Serie A’s January Shopping List

  • David Amoyal
In Italy, the January transfer window is often referred to as the “mercato di riparazione”- the market to repair things. But with at least three, or maybe four, teams in the race for the scudetto and seven clubs battling to avoid relegation, in January of 2018 we might see some moves designed to go all in as opposed to just trying to repair a previous mistake.

The standings tightening up in Serie A both at the top and the bottom, is just one of the factors motivating clubs to make acquisitions in January: the recent qualification of all the Italian clubs in the Europa League and Roma surprisingly winning their Champions League group, as well as injuries will also likely be drivers of activity in the coming weeks.

​With a few weeks to go before transfers can take place, let’s take a look at needs for the top Serie A clubs:

Napoli
 


Needs: left back, depth up front
Theme: why buy new players if Sarri won’t use them?
 
The injuries to Faouzi Ghoulam, Arkadiusz Milik and more recently Lorenzo Insigne have exposed Napoli’s lack of depth- or more precisely, a scarce number of players that Sarri trusts on the squad. In recent years the partneopei have tried to improve their bench by signing starters from other Serie A teams (Tonelli, Maksimovic, Zielinski, Diawara, Pavoletti and Mario Rui who was an above average left back at Empoli) and highly rated international prospects (Rog and Ounas)- but in the vast majority of the cases, the players struggled to integrate in Sarri’s schemes and rotations.

Napoli will likely be active in January to give their player’s scudetto pact a chance to succeed. Despite Ghoulam’s recent extension, the partneopei will target a wing back to try to improve the Maggio/Mario Rui combo. Napoli could either pursue a starting caliber player like Vrsaljko or go for a stopgap option until Ghoulam returns from his torn ACL.

​Sarri’s response to Milik’s injury was to run Mertens, Callejon and Insigne into the ground. The trio haven’t been as brilliant in recent weeks, and Insigne has now suffered a groin injury. The fact that Zielinski, a natural midfielder, was chosen to replace him over former Bordeaux prospect Adam Ounas  points to the need for at least one more attacker with Chievo’s Roberto Inglese as the favorite.
 
  
Inter


 
Positions of need: depth, center back, offensive midfielder.
Theme: must stay within Financial Fair Play parameters while improving depth for second half
 
If you think that Napoli has depth issues than well are you in for a treat with the nerazzurri. Spalletti has certainly improved numerous players on the squad (DAmbrosio, Nagatomo, Candreva and more recently Santon) but he’s also been able to get away with fielding consistently the same lineup since Inter isn’t competing in Europe and because they haven’t suffered any significant injuries.

​But If the nerazzurri are serious about competing for the scudetto in the second half of the season, they need to give Spalletti more options especially on defense. Ranocchia is the only veteran backup to Miranda and Skriniar, and because of Joao Cancelo and Dalbert’s struggles to adapt to Serie A, Sabatini and Ausilio will likely also target a wing back.

Inter will also look to bring more options to the midfield and attack, but they would either have to find a team willing to pay Joao Mario’s substantial amortized book value (around 30 million) to afford to find quality upfront, or complete another creative loan with forced option to buy like they did last January with Gagliardini to stay within their Financial Fair Play parameters.
 
 
Juventus
 


Positions of need: youth in midfield, depth at wingback with Asamoah & Lichstainer on expiring deals
Theme: looking for opportunities to improve short term & free transfers for long term
 
Between the recent strong performances from Benatia and De Sciglio in addition to Allegri’s tradition of easing his summer acquisition slowly, it appears that the Old Lady have less pressing needs than say a few weeks ago. The bianconeri’s defense had their fifth consecutive clean sheet on Saturday, so there’s no longer urgency to find another center back even with Howedes’ constant injuries.

​Upfront Juventus will have even more quality depth once Douglas Costa and Bernardeschi get more playing time making Mandzukic more of Higuain’s backup than starting winger. Marotta and Paratici could attempt to anticipate Emre Can’s arrival to January should they agree to a contract with the German midfielder once his deal with Liverpool expires.

​Despite the recent speculation on Chelsea and Manchester United, Alex Sandro is expected to stay in Turin at least until the end of the season- at that time Spinazzola will return from Atalanta giving Juventus more options at his position. It will be interesting to see if Marotta tries to extend Asamoah’s expiring contract after the Ghanaian international has re established himself as a starting caliber option.
 
  
Roma


 
Needs: depth upfront, avoid more knee injuries
Theme: will the real Monchi please stand up?
 
While Monchi deserves a lot of credit for hiring Eusebio Di Francesco and gambling on former Lazio player Kolarov, his other summer acquisitions have failed to make an impact (Lorenzo Pellegrini returned from a loan at Sassuolo so can’t really be considered a Monchi signing). Karsdorp has suffered two knee injuries, Moreno has fallen behind Juan Jesus in the pecking order, Defrel has been a bust and Schick has yet to score (although it’s encouraging that he played 90 minutes against Chievo).

​While Emerson Palmieri’s return from injury will give Di Francesco another option on defense, qualifying out of the group of death in the Champions League in addition to the good news on the new stadium, may give Roma two incentives to be active during the January window to bolster the attack and bring more depth.
 
 
  
Lazio


 
Needs: depth upfront
Theme: how long can they keep all their best players?
 
While Monchi got all the hype this summer, the best sporting director in Italy’s capital in 2017 was Lazio’s Tare’. The biancocelesti sold Keita and Biglia for big returns despite the fact they had expiring contracts, while Lucas Leiva and Luis Alberto (although it took him a year) proved to be great replacements.

So far this year Lazio have locked up three key players to new contracts: keeper Strakosha, midfielder Milinkovic Savic and striker Ciro Immobile. Tare’ is now focused on doing the same with excellent center back Stefan de Vrij. While Lazio will look for opportunities in January, they’re already receiving a big boost with Felipe Anderson’s return- so Tare’ and president Lotito will likely be more focused on doing all they can to retain their top talents.

AC Milan


 
Needs: an alternative to Kessie’, a left winger
Theme: don’t they have too many new players as is?
 
In previous Januaries Milan have been very active. Galliani was known for getting particularly creative in the winter window with swaps (remember Torres for Cerci?), loan deals for players like Destro and Deulofeu and anticipating the arrival of a free transfer like Suso, who turned out to be the Condor’s last great signing

​But this year things will likely be rather different after many of Milan’s summer signings like Andre Silva, Calhanoglu, Biglia, Kalinic and Musacchio failed to love to expectations (ironically Milan’s most consistent new addition has been Borini, a player they were mocked for signing). The struggle to integrate so many new players, in addition to all the speculations on the Elliott fund and Milan’s ownership, may force the rossoneri to be rather passive during the January window despite their need for an alternative to Kessie and another option upfront. We probably got a preview of this approach when Milan didn’t consider any other candidates to replace Montella than Gattuso, who was already coaching the rossoneri’s Primavera.

@DavidAmoyal