INTER THE TEAM TO BEAT
There is definitely a clear favourite for the Scudetto race: the defending champions, Inter Milan, who had already identified and picked up reinforcements (Mehdi Taremi and Piotr Zielinski) last February, without having sold starters and top players, without having changed coaches. The feeling is that the Nerazzurri will pick up exactly where they left off: the goal will be to win, win again, and maybe do better in Europe.
Without any doubt, Inter's is the most convincing project, and the Nerazzurri fans will be able to rest easy and enjoy their champions. There is still room for some reinforcements and acquire some new talent to add to an already long list.
THE MAIN CHALLENGERS
Among the teams that might surprise, it is impossible not to mention Juventus. The Bianconeri's summer plans did not go the way Thiago Motta wanted: the former Bologna coach made harsh and ruthless choices in the transfer market, put "out" some starters, chose precisely and forcefully who to keep and who to send away, forcing the club to work in a certain way.
Among the excluded, for example, there is Federico Chiesa. At the same time, however, Juventus has made several important signings (and some are yet to come), especially in midfield, where Motta would also like Teun Koopmeiners. Last year, Motta's Bologna was the revelation of Serie A, the team that surprised everyone, so it is to be expected that Juventus will be one of the most interesting teams in the league. The pre-season was slow and difficult, but that always happens when revolutions have to be made or at least major changes have to be made, but Motta amazed once and can amaze again, this time with much more quality at his disposal, especially with a reinforced and renewed midfield.
The coach from whom great things are expected is obviously Antonio Conte. Somewhat surprisingly, the former Italy coach has accepted the project of Napoli, in theory a team whose main goal is not to win the Scudetto immediately, which until now has always seemed to be a mandatory condition for Conte.
Napoli is also changing a lot, there is great anticipation around the future of Victor Osimhen (thanks to his transfer the club would like to buy Romelu Lukaku), but talented players have already arrived, the biggest investments have come in the defence, a role that has always been crucial for Conte. The coach is asking for investments from the Napoli ownership, he wants to compete, it will not be easy but if there is a coach who can get the most out of his team it is the former Juventus trainer.
Everyone will expect Napoli to fight for the Scudetto, maybe it would not be fair, especially since it is the first year, but this is Conte's destiny: when you are a winner, everyone expects you to win. He won’t let Napoli fans down and they can’t wait to see his football.
There is great curiosity around three projects, those of Roma, Milan and Lazio. Three teams that have changed coaches, the Giallorossi are putting in place an actual revolution with a lot of investments and some possible resounding farewells, but this probably deserves a story for itself... Daniele de Rossi has had time to study the roster arriving in the middle of the last season, so much so that on the market the team had clear ideas and took precise profiles.
Above all Matias Soulé, Enzo Le Fée and Artem Dovbyk, three big signings for a big amount of money, a kind of manifesto of the club's new philosophy, a hungry, young, talented team. The player that better represents this project is Soulé, one of the best talents of the last championship, the player who lit up so many games for Frosinone with dribbles and assists, without any doubt one of the best talents in world soccer. He can really become a star and Roma has decided to bet on him, especially De Rossi, the Roma symbol leading his favourite team from the start of the season, finally.
Curiosity also surrounds Milan: the Rossoneri have chosen to start from scratch a new project with Paulo Fonseca, who in the past has alternated very good things with less good things, especially in terms of results and continuity. Milan, however, is a team that was already full of talent and has now added Alvaro Morata, who will replace Olivier Giroud, a top player who will play alongside two other great players like Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao in a very talented trio. There are great expectations around the Portuguese coach.
As for Lazio, on the other hand, Claudio Lotito's project included the arrival of a coach in Marco Baroni with several years of apprenticeship behind him, a coach who has always shown interesting soccer ideas but has always worked in smaller clubs than Lazio, a team with a fan base that is always very ambitious. Tijjani Noslin is to be watched very closely, who is among various Lazio signings.
Strangely quiet has been Atalanta, from which it was legitimate to expect something more: Nicolo Zaniolo arrived, he desperately needs to relaunch himself, they had to buy Mateo Retegui in a few hours after Gianluca Scamacca's serious injury, and they could also lose Koopmeiners: Gian Piero Gasperini will have to work very hard to repeat what he did last year: he probably expected something more from the transfer window, no use hiding it.
THE BREAKOUT STARS TO WATCH
Among the players to watch, it is impossible not to mention Andrea Colpani, last year's Monza star and now Fiorentina's new player. His class and technique are a delight, and the new coach of the Viola, Raffaele Palladino, will have the task of framing all the talent at his disposal.
Colpani is undoubtedly one of the most interesting signings of the Italian summer, but so is Thijs Dallinga, Zirkzee's replacement at Bologna, now coached by Vincenzo Italiano, who is called upon to confirm what he did well in Florence.
Another player from whom it is fair to expect a step forward is Luca Mazzitelli, last year captain of Frosinone, now at Como: coached by Cesc Fabregas he can spread his wings and become the great footballer he has always made clear he could become, ever since he was just a boy. This could be his season. There are so many young talents who from this weekend will do battle match after match, a very long list would be needed: since they do not have a lot of money to spend for signings, Italian directors of sport are showing great creativity, this makes everything more interesting.
Anyway, Simone Inzaghi starts the year as an absolute protagonist and favourite, and it is obviously thanks to him and the Inter management, that they're capable of building a convincing and solid technical project.
THE NEW BOYS
It will obviously be difficult for newly promoted teams to stay in Serie A, because the gap between Serie A and Serie B is very big and Como to avoid dropping down in the category right away has put their hands on the rich ownership wallet and invested heavily, just think of the arrival of Andrea Belotti in attack, a Europe-zone signing.
It won't be easy for Fabregas to put it all together in such a short time, just as it will be difficult for Bologna to confirm or even come close to last year's resounding season, probably they will have to focus on building a new project, something very different.
This is precisely why the Serie A starting in a few hours promises to be so interesting: so many uncertainties, so many projects starting from scratch, so many new things to discover match after match, so many talents to watch. Genoa-Inter on Saturday will kick off the new season and we can’t wait for it to start!