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Grading Serie A’s Summer Transfer Window
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The Calcio Culture crew hands out grades for Serie A club’s summer transfer window so far. Napoli’s stunning move for Kevin De Bruyne headlines a busy mercato that saw big names arriving and departing across the league. Juventus reloaded with Jonathan David and João Mário, Inter reshaped their squad with Sucic and Henrique, and Milan’s controversial sales of Theo and Reijnders raised eyebrows despite smart additions like Modric and Ricci. Roma’s big gamble on Evan Ferguson, Atalanta’s managerial change, and Fiorentina’s bold reinforcements all add to the chaos. Vos & Motts break down which clubs nailed their summer plans, which might have overplayed their hand, and who could face regrets when the season kicks off. From Scudetto contenders to survival battlers, no team is safe from their grades.
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Transcript
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome back everybody to another episode of Kelcho Culture. today's episode, we're going to be ranking the top 10 teams from last season and how they've done so far this offseason.
00:00:16
Speaker
Looking particularly at ah transfers and managerial changes, as well as just some of the noise going around the clubs. Today you got me, Vos, and I'm here with Mots as well. And we're really looking forward to kind of grading what's been done so far this summer, Mots.
00:00:29
Speaker
Yes, indeed. Very exciting. lot of teams, some teams doing a lot, some teams not doing much. So let's get to Graydon. Yeah, and like we said in the last couple of episodes, we're still going to be breaking down team by team, but we felt like today made sense to kind of go through everybody as a whole because, again, like some of the clubs have been pretty quiet so far.
00:00:48
Speaker
so we're going to go from last season, final table, 10 to number one. who finished in 10th last year, Como. So we're going to start with them, give them a grading and then work our way up.
00:00:59
Speaker
So with Como Monts, what's kind of been going down here? It seems like more of the same from last season. ah Well, Como, obviously, they made some moves ah in the winter transfer market, which I think that's what you're referencing in terms of a lot of the same, because they have been splashing the cash.
00:01:15
Speaker
Probably the most one of the most active. They definitely have the most spent money in the summer so far. Como have spent a total of a hundred and two million dollars. Now, what Como has done so effectively since their change in ownership and their promotion is invest in bigger clubs, lower level talent or younger guys to give them first team football.
00:01:40
Speaker
And they continued to that theme this summer by splashing first as I mentioned, $102 million. And they basically spent about anywhere from $15 to $25 million on four different guys um on clubs ranging from Manchester City, Real Betis, Celtic, and Barcelona.
00:02:02
Speaker
So very exciting to watch these players play. I haven't seen much of them, obviously, because of where they're coming from. um But we've seen City go after the lower-level talent, like I said, Nico Paz, and see how well...
00:02:16
Speaker
he's done for them. I really think that they're investing smart. They are ahead of the curve in terms of what maybe Italian teams should need to be start to look at in terms of trying to find the players that are ready for the next step in taking first team football. And they're there being able to deliver that to those players. So very good bit of business here for Como.
00:02:37
Speaker
Still have a month left. So You anticipate them to splash even more cash because they're also linked with some big names as well, like Morata and other players. But you really like to see what they're doing in terms of buying names that maybe people haven't heard of, but have done well at their clubs.
00:02:54
Speaker
Real Betis was just in the conference league final. A guy ah that can't get necessarily might not be able to get into Manchester City's A-team, but can play for Como. So very smart business by Como.
00:03:06
Speaker
I give them an A. I'm sorry. You give them an already? ah give it up You know what? That's a good point. I think is high. You're right. I'm giving them a B. I'm giving them a B. Yeah, I think I'd give them a B as well because the thing with this is They're just kind of throwing so much at the wall and then they're play everybody and whatever sticks is going to presumably what they go with. That's what happened with the Santiago and have a Nico pause.
00:03:32
Speaker
My question mark for them. And I guess what they did last year, but they haven't done yet is they had sprinkled like a little bit of senior players in there, particularly Patrick Cattrone and then below T in the, in the winter.
00:03:44
Speaker
And it didn't really go well for any of those guys. Trefetso was okay. If we want to put them in that senior group. So I'm interested to see how far this youth kind of thing can take them. But it was almost like everything went perfectly last year.
00:03:57
Speaker
i would be a little bit surprised if they kind of get them all right again. so I'll probably I'm going to give it a ah B minus. But I mean. At the end of the season, we can look back and be oh, this is terrible.
00:04:08
Speaker
None of these panned out. I think that's a little bit the difficult part of this youth thing is because most of us have never seen these younger guys play realistically. like We watched Serie A, we watched ton of Serie A game. We don't know what's going on in like this EU system.
00:04:21
Speaker
Yeah. I had bet he's who played 15 games last year, who's now they bought him for 23 million and Jesus Rodriguez could be a phenomenal boy, but I don't know. I haven't really seen him. They're not very small sample size.
00:04:32
Speaker
um' But you can't knock the strategy yet. The track record pans out for them, right? We've yeah we've seen them do it before, and those guys hit the scene but hit the scene running and scoring goals, flying high.
00:04:45
Speaker
So you have to kind of trust in their scouting team and what they've been evaluating in terms of talent and how they can utilize it in Fabregas' system. So there's nothing that they've done for me to say that I don't trust them.
00:04:57
Speaker
in their evaluation. And I also like to see that they're willing to spend the money as the owner said when he took over the team. So they're putting their money where their mouth is. But you're right. This could be ah some of these guys could be swings and misses.
00:05:09
Speaker
But I like them taking chances. And I think it's smart business. So I'm sticking solid B. All right, B-minus for me. Let's keep it rolling. ah Ninth place last season, Bologna. i think one of the most notable things they did so far in the summer was keep Vincenzo Italiano because they there was a couple of clubs that were after him.
00:05:25
Speaker
So that was one of the things. And then I think we need to start with the guys that went out so far. Actually, right before we hopped on today, some huge news. Dan and Doy, I don't think it's officially official, but it's- but I think it is. at this point okay Okay. 45 million. He is going to Nottingham Forest in England.
00:05:42
Speaker
Massive loss to the club. And then the other piece that happened earlier, Sam Bukema went to Napoli for fee, 30 million, right around there at 30 million. So two very big losses, probably your best, second best forward, first or second, depending on if you want to give it to Orsalini or not.
00:06:01
Speaker
And then one of the best defenders in the league in Bukema, that's a big hole. I think they'll probably figure out the center back one, but replacing Ndoi is a big task for any club.
00:06:12
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's a big that was breaking news today. But what I will say is they have money to spend now, right? they have yeah So far, they've they've raised $76 million. dollars And last season, they lost Zerxe and they lost Calafiore.
00:06:26
Speaker
And everyone said, well, they're and they lost their coach. They're getting picked apart. They're not going to do the same. They finished the exact same spot they did last year. So they know how to invest and ah reinvest the money that they make on the players that they can develop.
00:06:39
Speaker
With that said, though, those guys being sold, then they brought in a couple guys. They brought in some old veterans ah who know the league in Bernadeschi and Immobile.
00:06:51
Speaker
Both of them were brought in on a free. So not much money spent there. I believe that's right, right? Yeah, both of them on freeze. So not a lot of money there. However, I don't like this direction at all from Bologna.
00:07:04
Speaker
It's the classic Italian recycle players. These are who we know rather than giving other younger talent chances. right like You do know Immobile is going to score goals as he's proved time time again with Lazio.
00:07:18
Speaker
Bernadeschi, though, was a total flop on Juventus. He's been in the MLS for the last two, three years, so he's not used to the pace of the game, ah the defense of the game, the talent. like It's going to take them a while. So I don't really like these moves at all. I think Bologna is very smart in that they will reinvest the money that they've made.
00:07:37
Speaker
But as of right now, I have to give Bologna a C. um And the only reason why I'm not giving it lower is because they did make a lot of money on two guys.
00:07:48
Speaker
right They've made almost $80 million on two players. So that's that is good business. Yeah, I think I'm right there with you. um On the Bernadette Escu one, I agree. i don't I don't really understand that one.
00:08:00
Speaker
The way things have panned out and Doy leaves, I guess he's your number one left winger at this point. I don't really know who else you're playing out there. I do like the Immobile one a lot. What I kind of thought of that one was Simone Castro is your your striker number one. You have Europa League this year.
00:08:15
Speaker
So there's going to be some rotation there. Why not bring in one of the prolific most prolific goal scorers in Syria over the last 10 years or so. So I think in games where we got Europa League game midweek, we can throw mobile in the mix and he's probably going to have a decent output.
00:08:31
Speaker
That one makes a lot of sense to me. Again, Bernadeschi, I don't know. I would probably give this a D though so far. Losing Ndoi and losing Bukema and not replacing either of them fully is a problem.
00:08:44
Speaker
and mean without Ndoi, that is a very big hole to fill in this team, regardless of how good Castro was and the lingo was last year. That's so... I would assume Borsellini does have some sort of drop-off too.
00:08:56
Speaker
Yeah, Orselena was flying. he couldn't he scored every game. Do you think, like, DeLinga maybe can push out to the left? Because bringing Immobile in, you have you've invested in DeLinga. You have Castro. You don't want to stunt their growth.
00:09:11
Speaker
um Bringing Immobile in is going to take away time unless they become flexible and maybe play some guys in different positions. but I think it's interesting because I i do think the Linga could play off the left.
00:09:23
Speaker
I think he's more of like a second striker, honestly, is from what I've seen from him. I think there's also a lot of question marks around the club, around the league, at what level the Linga's going to get to. And even on Castro, Castro could flop this season. He was very good last year, but we really haven't seen enough of him to say,
00:09:40
Speaker
He is our number nine for five years, six years, if they don't move on from him. But I think Immobile is like a good, free, pretty safe bet that makes a lot of sense.
00:09:51
Speaker
And when they do need to feature him from the very beginning the game, you kind of know what you're going to get. He's going to get his chances. He's going to bury them. So I think it makes sense. Like low ceiling. low, high floor kind of thing.
00:10:02
Speaker
And I think it makes sense. And where he's going to be used is only in the league, really. I don't really see him doing a lot in Europa League. I think that's going to be Castro-Dolinga territory. And they'll kind of retreat to Immobile in the league is what I think.
00:10:20
Speaker
Moving on from Bologna last year, ac Milan, very disappointing season coming in eighth place. So that brings us to them. We did a longer episode about this two weeks ago, so we're not going to go too much into the details here, but money out the door.
00:10:35
Speaker
or brought in, I guess, is the way players sold. 109 million brought into the club and having spent 40 million. Notably in that 40 million, you had a free transfer Luka Modric, Samuel Ricci for 23 million.
00:10:47
Speaker
And then what has happened since that episode is they brought in a stupid young from Brighton in the Premier League to play left back. For me, I'm D on this window so far, and I think that might be a surprise to some people.
00:10:59
Speaker
But for me, they brought in some good players. have not addressed the problem area on the field, which is, I just don't know how you haven't done that. You can even go deep territory for this because midfield really wasn't a problem. And the glaring holes in the team are still there for me.
00:11:15
Speaker
And that's defense. Yeah. Also, since that episode, this team has played two games, one against Arsenal that they lost in PKs, but at the actual end of the regulation, it was 0-0.
00:11:28
Speaker
And once against Liverpool, where they won 4-2. But with the going to the market here, they also hired Allegri. As Vo said, we did do a deeper dive, so not going too much into it.
00:11:39
Speaker
The totality of this window so far for me, I'm putting in the C category as well. They have had some good business. Modric on a free is good. They need a leader.
00:11:50
Speaker
Ricci on for 23 million. I don't know how that happened. And they've raised some good funds, right? They they were able to save emmer or sell sell Emerson Royale for 9 million. I don't know why anyone would pay any but a dollar for him.
00:12:04
Speaker
Um, Tio, they got 25, could have maybe got a little bit more there. Reinders, they had to sell for a lot. But they've also been able to keep Liao, which is positive as well.
00:12:16
Speaker
um But I agree with you. They're not they're kind of just stuck now. They've made a lot of early moves that were good and a lot of early sales to have them have the funds to make moves. And since then, they haven't done a whole lot.
00:12:28
Speaker
And there's still a lot of holes that need to be filled. So for me, I'm putting Milan at a seat Yeah. And the last thing i kind of left Allegri out of there, I think Allegri is still like kind of stagnation for the club. So we're still going to give it a C I think that Allegri is a step in the right direction from what they did do last year. but Not really forward thinking, moving the club forward kind of guy for me at this point. um So yeah, C-range.
00:12:54
Speaker
Moving on, seventh place last year, Lazio. They actually have a transfer ban, so very little to report here. And on the little things that they did do, I would give them an F. They sacked Marco Barone and brought back Maurizio Sarri.
00:13:06
Speaker
I hated that move. I thought Barone was doing a very good job. I think that was a short-sighted sacking by Latito. um So they get an F. For me, they they downgraded and coached, and that's all they could do.
00:13:17
Speaker
Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Everyone that follows this podcast knows my feelings about Lazio and Latito. They stink. And Latito is showing it now. Transfer ban or not, they brought in nobody.
00:13:29
Speaker
They were already a very not deep squad, thin squad as it was last season. And we came on here time and time like again and kind of praised Barone for what he was but able to do.
00:13:42
Speaker
with that squad. And now, for whatever reason, Latito said, you're fired. And then they made the classic Italian Serie A move, recycled players, recycled coaches. We know what this guy is. We know what he's done on Lazio before.
00:13:55
Speaker
Does he play attractive football? Sure. He's another hard head, though, that's stuck in his way in Sarri. So I don't didn't like the move. I give him an F. All right, cool. We're very much a liar right now.
00:14:08
Speaker
um Keep it a rolling. Sixth place last year under ah guy that we love, Fiorentina. They had Palladino, another one of those guys we talked about all last season, who did a great job, we thought.
00:14:19
Speaker
He miraculously upped and left the club right at the end of the season, and they replaced him with Stefano Pioli, so he's back. um In addition to that, they've spent around $44 million. Some of that is keeping players that they did have last year.
00:14:32
Speaker
And it brought in 58 million in players sold this year. For me, not a lot has moved the needle either way. The most notable players that they brought in, Edin Dzeko, Matteo Vitti from Empoli.
00:14:44
Speaker
Fagioli became official, Gudmundsen became official, and they kept Moise Keane. But outside of that, Dagman, I would say, at the best,
00:14:56
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. they They've done nothing. And this is a team that could have taken the next step. And I really thought that they were going to take the next step in terms of maybe making a run for the Champions League next season.
00:15:09
Speaker
But they what they did throughout the season caused Palladino to want to resign, right? And then they... They wanted him back and he was like, no, they haven't made a lot of good moves in my opinion. Dzeko is for me the same boat as Immobile, just an old player. Although he is a very, very underrated striker and he is a lethal goal scorer, but he's also 39 years old You're moving in the wrong wrong direction, in my opinion.
00:15:38
Speaker
And for me, I'm giving this... This is going my first F that I'm handing out. They could have done a lot. They have promising players in Gudmundsen and Keane, and they have not added to it at all.
00:15:51
Speaker
And at any point in time, someone can go snag Keane, and then they're they're even worse off than where they are now. So for me, Fiorentina has an F. I'm giving them a D because I do like that they got Matteo Vitti from Empoli. That's a good defender to have.
00:16:07
Speaker
And I do really like Edin Dzeko, but I don't know when he's going to play. like you cant He probably can't play full 90 anymore. I don't know what's going on there. They did improve defensively by adding Vitti, so I'm not going to give them an F. And then the one I don't like is Palladino for Pioli is a downgrade for him.
00:16:25
Speaker
And that's a percent back because I i don't think Pioli is going to develop the players the same way that Palladino was. Palladino is really creative and would use different formations. obviously We saw that throughout the season.
00:16:35
Speaker
And that's something that Pioli has historically not done. He just runs his four, two, three, one, and will run that into the ground no matter what. But what you do have with somebody like Pioli is somebody that's won the league, made champions league run.
00:16:46
Speaker
So it is hard to continue to knock him and say what he's not good at when he has delivered. So we could look back at the end of the season, this coming season, and there is still some time in the preseason. And Bully could have a masterclass with this team and do something with it. I don't think it's there.
00:17:00
Speaker
i don't think they've approved the squad. If you're not getting better, you're getting worse. So B for me.
00:17:08
Speaker
And at fifth place, fifth place, miraculously finishing last year. ah We're talking about S. Roll Not. They have had a massive transfer window so far. And we're going have to do a really deep episode on this because they had a lot of creative side signings, um a lot of interesting signings, some guys going out, some guys coming in on notably, they spent 47 million and they have raised 46 million, basically parading good business and yeah know The other really important piece of this is a new manager in Gasparini. We've talked about that at length, I think, over the last month or two, so we don't need to spend a ton of time there.
00:17:41
Speaker
But for you, Mats, they've kind of reinforced every area of the field. Clearly, Gasparini has identified a couple guys that he did want to bring in, um and they've had a pretty successful preseason so far.
00:17:52
Speaker
um But do you want to kind of run through who they've brought in, maybe some of the guys they've let go? Yeah, well, one thing that I will say is that played a factor as well that they were able to do was keep Angelino as well because he was heavily linked away and he had a big season for them.
00:18:06
Speaker
um But they started off extremely hot, obviously hiring Gasparini. And what do we all know if Gasparini has been able to do? And that is turn water into wine, if you will, or turn players who have...
00:18:18
Speaker
maybe flopped other places and make them a star again. And they've they targeted that with Evan Ferguson that came out of nowhere. ah player that was Brighton once put a price tag of $100 million on him if you wanted to buy him.
00:18:32
Speaker
He then, for whatever reason, flopped and didn't work out. But they got him on a bargain, I think, for $40 million. It's a loan $3 million for $40 million. Then they've added a couple other players like Wesley, who comes from the Brazilian League, had a good Club World Cup, was linked to Juventus as well.
00:18:49
Speaker
And then some other ah guys that I'm not too familiar with. So I have to see them play to figure out if they're going to fit. but there's nothing there's nothing... Everything that gets that shows Gasparini, that to me, that Gasparini has showed, tells me he knows the players that he wants in his system.
00:19:06
Speaker
With that said... You have seen a lot of times players from the Brazilian League flop in the first year take a little bit longer for them to figure it out. So for me, I really, really like the moves that they did early on.
00:19:20
Speaker
I really, really like that they haven't really spent a lot of money and because they've raised the same amount that they've spent. So I'm going to give them a B+. plus because of that. They made good moves.
00:19:32
Speaker
They're not, it's not an A. it's not they could have They could do slightly better in terms of more notable players. But with Gasparini, he bringt he makes players who are not notable become notable and then flip them for a ton of money. So I give Roma a very solid B+. plus I think I'll give them an A, which is a little bit optimistic thinking.
00:19:53
Speaker
um But when we talked about this at the end of the season, we kind of debated this with Lowe's. We didn't really feel like they needed to like overly reinforce the squad. They kind of had an 11 there. One of the areas that we had picked out was maybe adding a center back.
00:20:05
Speaker
It seems like they did get that done today with Danielle Ghilardi from LS Verona. 10 million young Italian player, probably going to play off the right. So you kind of reinforce one of the problem areas there.
00:20:16
Speaker
But then other than that, like, This guy from France is supposed to be really good. ne I'm going to butcher his name. Neil L. I know. I know he butchers. 24 matches, eight goals, one assist from like a number eight is very Gasparini.
00:20:32
Speaker
In everything that I've read, this was kind of Gasparini's guy. I know they were also in on Rios who ended up going to Benfica. But it seemed like this one, they kind of prioritized ahead of that to some degree.
00:20:43
Speaker
So I feel very good about that. Gasperini has historically gotten his eights extremely right and elevated them to a true and disagree. I think the other part of this was we all kind of agreed they needed to get some sort of right-sided wing back or right back. And that's what Wesley was.
00:20:59
Speaker
But even if he doesn't do well, they have Divine Wren. They have Zelke Czelic, who have guys who had good have had good seasons in the past. Divide Ranch we thought was great last year. I don't even think this was an area they necessarily needed to improve at, but I like how they're reinforcing the squad, and getting ready for a long season, getting ready for a Scudetto chase.
00:21:18
Speaker
And I think bringing in a player of Evan Ferguson's level is actually a higher level player than I was expecting them to bring in to backup Dovbeck. um And we've seen that in preseason. He's been banging goals since he joined.
00:21:31
Speaker
In Mots, before we had hopped on here, you said... Who's Gasparini even going to play? Is he going to play them together? Because ever it's clear that Evan Ferguson is a there's a good player in there. $40 million? Yeah, that competition good for Joe Bick. It'll be good for the squad, and you're getting like a player that has an extremely high ceiling once again.
00:21:49
Speaker
Gasparini with Strikers has had a way of just... creating them. Like you said, water. You also, and you've got two guys to do that with this year. They also very smartly pushed the 37 mil to next, next summer.
00:22:04
Speaker
Right. So they're only paying 3 million for his services this year, which is, that's a good bit of business. I'd also just looking at the list of guys that they've sold. Enzo Le Fay, Zalewski, Tammy, Paredes, Shomer Ruddoff. They've raised 46 million for,
00:22:22
Speaker
ah Those aren't world beaters over there. like They got so a good amount of cash for some... like They're solid players, but they're nothing too crazy. So good selling by Roma as well. But for me, B+, there's still some question marks on players, ah but could easily be an A depending on when they play and how well they do.
00:22:40
Speaker
Yeah, it is interesting you point that out because it's almost like the they created their second line and just improved those players. Just like elevated the guys around the bench. And the other thing that I'm loving, i everything I've seen, Pizzilli's balling out in preseason. I've seen it everywhere. So that one's really exciting for me.
00:22:57
Speaker
But there's going to be more on Roma. Again, we got a lot of talk about there. But moving get into our fourth place finishers last year, i know it's been a while, Matt, since we talked about Juve. So I'm going to let you just run away with this one.
00:23:08
Speaker
Oh, Juventus, man. No, I can't be biased here They're... They're handcuffed because of what they did last summer and they loaned with an obligation to buy every single player that they had.
00:23:22
Speaker
And so now we already know what they what those guys are. And for the most part, they're not good. So Juventus has spent about $120 million in the door, as I mentioned, mostly just to retain the players that they've already had.
00:23:35
Speaker
And Conce Sao, Nico Gonzalez, Di Gregoria. things like that. the They've only added two additional players. One was a good bit of business, Jonathan David on a free.
00:23:47
Speaker
He's a guy that was consistently scored 20-plus goals in the French League for about five seasons, had a great Champions League, is a good player, and on a free. That's good business right there.
00:23:59
Speaker
Then next was pretty recent break. Recently added Jao Mario from Porto. And they kind of did a swap deal for Alberto Costa plus about four or five million they made. So listen, that was a bad business. Alberto Costa had ah great showing in the last six months.
00:24:17
Speaker
That made no sense to me. Terrible business in my opinion. I do want to at least give Jao Mario the chance. I'm not going to write him off, but I don't see how that made sense. Then they sold Mbangula for...
00:24:28
Speaker
12 million dollars. That was the how have they not learned from their mistakes with Sule, Hoisin? The Pajoli, Moisey Keane, Christian Romeo, the list goes on. They have all these players that are young and talented and promising, and they sell them for pennies.
00:24:50
Speaker
And then a year later, they go for 50, 60, 70 million. I thought for sure they'd learn from their mistakes, but they didn't. M. Bagul is a guy that you could have easily gotten 25 mil for him.
00:25:01
Speaker
He had five goals and four assists last game in very few minutes played. If he's in the Prem doing that, that's a $30 million dollars player. um So bad bit of business there.
00:25:11
Speaker
And now... So then... So yeah, real quick. $120 million dollars in the door. $63 million dollars out. So they're in the red. They're not doing well. And they have so many holes on the team like center back.
00:25:25
Speaker
They have yet to get the business done with Cole Mwani. And at any point in time, a Prem team can gobble him up. So... Just terrible summer for Juventus so far, not looking any more promising um in the coming weeks.
00:25:44
Speaker
So I have to give them an F. I can't give them anything else. Jonathan David on for you. Okay, D, fee I'll give him a D because of that. i think argu But then also, but wait, then if we're we're taking the whole window into account.
00:25:58
Speaker
Lost out on Conte. Lost out on Gasparini. Then went to Tudor. Like, it's been L after L. If they can't get the Colomawani deal done, it has to be an F. But even with the Colomawani deal, they need centerbacks.
00:26:14
Speaker
They need centerbacks. And we're linked to nobody. God. D-. minus yeah I have to give them a D as well. the jonathan The Jonathan David one is weird because it's almost like they got him in case they don't get Colin Wani, but they'll also use him if they have Colin Wani because he really is just a bad version of Colin Wani.
00:26:35
Speaker
Like just a downgrade from him, does a lot of similar things. So I think that was their thinking there. The other piece of business that I really didn't like was Coach Ossow for 30 mil.
00:26:47
Speaker
Well, so to take an even deeper dive, the original fee that they accepted last summer it was 30 million. They spent weeks trying to get this done, negotiating to pay less than the 30 million.
00:27:02
Speaker
And then they end up paying more than the 30 million. They paid thirty they paid 32 him. for him So all in, because they loaned Conceição last summer for $10 million. All in, Conceição costed Juventus $42 million when they had Sule already in-house and they sold for $28 million.
00:27:23
Speaker
Yeah, but it's really hard not to give them an F. I'm not giving them an F because I can't say they got worse, really. They brought in a good player and then they kind of haven't done anything else other than lose Alberto Costa, which doesn't make any sense.
00:27:39
Speaker
So it's a D for me. I think we can keep moving because this was kind of a boring window so far. Bringing it to third place last year, Atalanta, another one, not a ton of business, probably the biggest thing.
00:27:53
Speaker
Gasparini leaving and they bring in Ivan Yurich. Me and Luggs talked about this couple months ago at atde length. A lot of question marks around if that was the right move. It definitely is taking them in a more defensive looking area.
00:28:07
Speaker
But in terms of finances, they've spent 80 million, 104 million out the door, really, or in the door from sales. Nothing really notable though. A lot of the money spent was being the guys they had from last year that were online.
00:28:20
Speaker
The one guy they did bring in was Suleymanov from South Hefton, who was a guy that Ivan Juric actually coached there in his brief stance. And I think that had something to do with that. They spent 17 mil there.
00:28:31
Speaker
The other significant outgoing, Matteo Rattagi to Saudi Arabia, 68 million euro after buying him for 28. Another great bit of business from the club. Part of that, I think that went into making that decision is Skamakas back this year. And I think the club has a lot of confidence in him to basically just pick up the slack like he was doing pre-injury.
00:28:52
Speaker
They also get s Scalvini back this year. I think there are are a lot of good things there. i think it's more question marks around what we're going to get out of Juric this year. But from like a transfer window perspective, I would say C so far.
00:29:06
Speaker
Nothing to really move the needle either way. I think cashing in on Ritegi makes a lot of sense when you kind of see that as a strength area for you. You haven't really lost anybody. The thing that is still floating out there is Luckman to enter.
00:29:21
Speaker
That is still a real possibility. And I think if they look at, if they lose him, you might be going towards an F window. Trending downwards. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I echo a lot what you said. The biggest one for me is obvious.
00:29:37
Speaker
Going from Gasparini, a guy that's an attacking style of play, to Juric is not not what you want to do in the slightest. The only silver lining in this window for me is that they made money as a club.
00:29:51
Speaker
They bought Rattagi last year, 28, one season. Golden Boo sold him for 68. Sad to see him go. I think Gasparini got way more out of him than anybody thought that he was going to deliver.
00:30:04
Speaker
So if you look at it from a club perspective in terms of raising money, it's a little bit better than an F. But if you're looking at it as like Atalanta is going, what what are they going to do next year to improve off of a third place finish?
00:30:17
Speaker
They've done nothing to allow them to do that. So that... would be an F for me. So it's a little hard to grade this one. If you're looking, at if you want, if you care about making money, then it's a little bit better than an F. But if you want to compete for the Scudetto, be better than what you were last year, compete for the Champions League, like you won the Europa League two years ago, you need to add talented players, and they haven't done that.
00:30:43
Speaker
And so that it's an F for me. All right, that is harsh. Everybody's harsh in Atlanta, except for me, I guess it's part of the issue. But keep it moving. Number two, the runners-up last season, Inter Milan.
00:30:56
Speaker
Slightly turbulent end to the year. Finished in the second place. And Zogin peeled off of them. used to Saudi Arabia. They bring in Christian Kivu from Palermo. A lot of question marks there.
00:31:07
Speaker
um But other than that, what have they done? They spent 66 mil so far. They brought in Sujit from Dynamo Zagreb. They brought in Henrik from Luis Henrik, something like that. forget his first name.
00:31:18
Speaker
From Martzai. They brought in Boney from Parma, and they're still linked heavily to Adam O. Luckman. 66 mil spend and then they raised 16 mil from some sales nothing notable there as well ah but for me i actually give this an A lot of questions for me on Kivu and I don't think that was the right appointment but what I love that they did is they identified areas they needed to strengthen and they went in and they got it done immediately i think but adding Boney gives you the Marcus Teram rotator that you have never had
00:31:53
Speaker
They are like for like, very, very similar players. Suchich, you loved at the beginning last season. um You talked about him a ton. I think this is going to a great player. When I've seen him talked about as kind of like an in-between Brozovic and Hakann kind of player, a little bit more creative than Brozovic, but not as much of a per producer of Brozovic, kind of like bridging the gap there.
00:32:14
Speaker
And then Henrique, I don't really know much about him. Just another creative midfielder from Fred's. So I like everything they've done. This team is ban phenomenal. I think they're still probably top three roster um disputed in the league.
00:32:25
Speaker
So just kind of adding players around there, I think makes a lot of sense. I don't think there's really holes in this team. Still, the biggest question mark is going to be cheap, hopefully. Yeah, Kivu's a big question mark. I'm a little bit of a different take here.
00:32:37
Speaker
They didn't, in my opinion, the only area that they added where they needed depth so far it was Bonnie. they need They need to center back. They need a goalie.
00:32:48
Speaker
They haven't done any of that. I don't like the manager appointment at all. Luis Enrique, from what I saw in the Club World Cup, is playing and at a wingback spot. And they have DeMarco and Dumfries.
00:32:59
Speaker
um So maybe they want to shift in Carlos Augusta to a center back, maybe. So then they're not going to buy a center back, but that's a lot of question marks. I think that they didn't assess really what they needed.
00:33:13
Speaker
Also, if you're buying Lookman, are you playing him at a striker? Are you switching your form formation to a 3-4-2-1? If you do that... if you do that Does Bonnie and Taram fit behind?
00:33:27
Speaker
Taram less so, but do they fit behind Lataro? What is all of that going to look like? So a lot of question marks for me around this mark this window. Not a lot of moves that I loved.
00:33:38
Speaker
And I've been saying, and I think they take a big step back. I think this market isn't really helping them. And so I'm going to give them a c All right. Yeah, they're, they're scary. I could see them spiraling out of control next year. i don't know why there's very bad vibes from them.
00:33:56
Speaker
Uh, but that kind of brings us to number one, Scudetto winners, immaculate vibes in Napoli, 89 million spent 27 million in the door. Not really crazy losses, notably in, in Gogi, Polaranchu, Rafamar, Natan, nothing really crazy in terms of out the door, in the door.
00:34:14
Speaker
Von Dramalinkovic Savage, Sam Duckemo, Lorenzo Luka, Noah Lang, Kevin De Bruyne. A-plus, 100% score. They're going to win the league again is kind of where I'm at.
00:34:25
Speaker
This has been the best window by any club by a an insane margin, I think. What I really liked is they kind of stuck in the league for a lot of the guys I brought in. Guys that you know are going to translate well. You're improving all areas of the field.
00:34:40
Speaker
I don't think there's anything you can say bad about this window. Yeah, the one thing that you left out, Oseman, I believe is official now. So they're actually like almost breaking even as well. They kind of got a tax rate, only paying 40 this year, 30 next year. So slightly off on the books. But for the most part, they're not in the red. They're in the black. They're spending the money that they're selling.
00:35:02
Speaker
The one hiccup happened today. They were heavily linked with Endoyne. Looked like they were going to get that done. And Nottingham Forest came in and and got that done quickly and swiftly.
00:35:14
Speaker
So that was their one hiccup. But other than that, I mean, this is an A++. plus plus You got and im a very, very good goalie who has proven that he is a top goalie in this league.
00:35:25
Speaker
A great on-the-ball center back. Um... and of a good backup striker at the very least in Lorenzo Luca. Noah Lang is your Cavada replacement, has the flair.
00:35:37
Speaker
And then you have a superstar in KDB. And you were also able to keep Zombo. He was linked away for a little bit. You got Scott McTominay. You're keeping Labaka, it looks like, who is a key player as well.
00:35:50
Speaker
So even the guys that they've kept has been huge. They've kept Conte as well. He was heavily linked away. So any way you turn, it's been good business, good vibes at Napoli.
00:36:02
Speaker
And now what it's going to come down to is they're going to have high expectations and can they deliver. But so far, this market has been an A-plus for me. I do not think it's over yet. I think they'll make a couple more moves, which will just increase the grade an A-plus-plus.
00:36:17
Speaker
um But they will be my Scudetto favorites, and they will have high expectations. I will be putting high expectations on them for what they did last year and for this market, but A-plus.
00:36:29
Speaker
Yeah, and and over the next month, we're over less than a month to go until the kickoff of the season. and I think there's a lot of work to be done in terms of guys coming and going still. Again, everybody's been pretty quiet, I would say, as we go through this whole list.
00:36:42
Speaker
We a lot of average transfer windows, not a ton of money spent. So things are going to change. But over the next month, guys, we're going to giving you our team previews like we did last year, our expectations for the teams, ah what we we would consider a successful season for them.
00:36:56
Speaker
And then we're going to finish things with our prediction of the table. Should be a really exciting year. Again, Napoli looks like they're going to be taking a leak by storm for a second season in the row. ah But we're going to keep breaking things down for you, getting ready for the season. We're really excited. um But that's it for us today.
00:37:11
Speaker
Yeah, hopefully some teams have Juventus start making moves and actually bringing some players. But yeah, Vos, I echo everything. It's going to be a great great season.
00:37:22
Speaker
Slow Mercado so far. We still have month and a half left. Looking forward to breaking it down. Don't be a Gaguz and Porza Calcio culture.
00:38:12
Speaker
you