Roberto Baggio was ‘very pleased’ to see Napoli win the Scudetto after 30 years and ‘surprised’ that Milan sold Sandro Tonali to Newcastle United, but feels Inter made a great buy.
The Italy legend spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport and cast his eye over the current Serie A scene, as the 2023-24 season kicks off tomorrow evening.
Napoli take to the field against Frosinone and try to defend their title as Champions of Italy.
“I was very pleased to see Napoli win the Scudetto, as they played really good football throughout the campaign. They showed off talents like Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen and Kim Min-jae.
“I think it is good for football to have a different club from the usual suspects winning the Scudetto. President Aurelio De Laurentiis deserves congratulations for dismantling the old team and putting together a very strong new one.”
It is the first Scudetto for the Partenopei since the era of Diego Armando Maradona and Baggio sees a few similarities.
“They have the same joy of playing football. It is not true that the 1980s Napoli was just Maradona, as he had quality teammates like Antonio Careca, Ferdinando De Napoli and Andrea Carnevale. It was a strong group behind Diego.”
Looking at the current crop of title contenders, Baggio believes an old rivalry will be brought back to the forefront.
“The Milan clubs changed a great deal and will need time to get themselves sorted out. Napoli will want to confirm their status and Juventus have an advantage being out of Europe, so all their focus will be on Serie A.”
The midfields above all were transformed over the summer at San Siro with some big departures.
“I was really surprised by Tonali’s move to Newcastle, I did not expect that and Milan lose a great deal with his absence. However, Davide Frattesi is a player I really like and who I’ve been tracking, so his move is a big boost for Inter.”