Club-by-club: Serie A summer transfer windows rated

Big spending and superstar arrivals may be few and far between but Italy’s top division has still seen a shake-up this summer. Giancarlo Rinaldi does his best to examine whose acquisitions policy has most impressed.

• Read more – All completed Serie A transfers in 2023 summer transfer window

ATALANTA – 7.5 They may have lost Rasmus Hojlund but that has helped to fund a pretty sumptuous transfer market. Charles De Ketelaere is an intriguing gamble while similar things could be said about Gianluca Scamacca and El-Bilal Touré up front. Marco Carnesecchi has looked like an outstanding prospect with Italy’s Under 21s while Sead Kolasinac adds a dash of experience. All in all, even Gian Piero Gasperini would struggle to grumble.

BOLOGNA – 5.5 A pretty quiet window but some would argue that if it isn’t broken then you don’t need to fix it. Thiago Motta’s side were solid last season and they have pretty much kept that team intact. The loss of Marko Arnautovic was a major blow as he was a leader for this side but there have been early indications that new boy Dan Ndoye might fit into their system pretty well.

CAGLIARI – 6 A fairly major reshuffle was always likely to be in order to try to ensure Serie A survival and they have not hesitated about making a string of signings in Sardinia. The once hugely promising Simone Scuffet in goals is a welcome return to Italy while Sampdoria full-back Tommaso Augello is a reliable performer. Jakub Jankto is well known after his time in Genoa too while Eldor Shomurodov will hope to have found a club to finally showcase his talents.

EMPOLI – 6.5 Some star names have been lost such as Guglielmo Vicario to Spurs and Fabiano Parisi to Fiorentina but that is pretty much par for the course for the Tuscan side. They have just dusted themselves off and hope to have brought in the next crop of rising stars. Daniel Maldini is an eye-catcher but Elia Caprile and Matteo Cancellieri will also look to enhance their reputations and careers at the perfect club to do so.

FIORENTINA – 7 Although the Sofyan Amrabat saga dragged on, the Viola were not slow in making their signings. Out went the likes of Igor, Lorenzo Venuti, Arthur Cabral and Riccardo Saponara while on the inbound train came the promising Parisi from Empoli, the tactically important Arthur from Juventus and a revamped attack with Mbala Nzola and Lucas Beltran. The potential looks good, at least on paper.

FROSINONE 6 – It is hard to programme survival but they have done their best with a mix of older heads and young hopefuls. In have come a player with plenty of Serie A knowledge in Pol Lirola and another experienced defender in Simone Romagnoli. It will be interesting to see how Juventus loanees Kaio Jorge and Matias Soulé get on and the same is true of Reinier Jesus coming from Real Madrid while Abdou Harroui from Sassuolo has already made an immediate impact.

GENOA 7 – Although they got torn apart in their opening game, the Rossoblu have invested quite heavily in making a mark on their return to the top division. Mateo Retegui is the standout name but the likes of Ruslan Malinovskyi and Junior Messias also have a proven track record. Morten Thorsby has also crossed the port city from Samp to Genoa via Union Berlin.

INTER 7.5 – The loss of Milan Skriniar, Andre Onana and Marcelo Brozovic cannot be underestimated but the Nerazzurri have done their best to bring in quality with Yann Sommer, Marcus Thuram, Davide Frattesi and Benjamin Pavard on the arrivals list plus Davy Klaassen on the deadline day. No doubt the Romelu Lukaku and Lamar Samardzic sagas were frustrating but they still look to have put a strong squad at Simone Inzaghi’s disposal.

JUVENTUS 6 – If the window closes without having to sacrifice Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa then that will probably be seen as a victory. With no European football to worry about, they should be more than capable of a Scudetto challenge. Timothy Weah was the biggest name to arrive but it was more a summer about stability than doing anything spectacular in Turin.

LAZIO 5.5 – It appears that Maurizio Sarri has not been all that impressed by the transfer strategy in Rome and it would be hard to blame him. Any team would struggle to replace Sergej Milinkovic-Savic but the action has been sluggish from the Biancocelesti. Nicolò Rovella is a talent and both Daichi Kamada and Mateo Guendouzi could be quality additions but it is not the big step forward fans were hoping for in order to mount a title bid.

LECCE 6 – The wily old sporting director Pantaleo Corvino knows how to find a jewel and early results seem to be backing him up. Nobody would look at the arrivals board and think it was breathtaking but Pontus Almqvist has already made an impact and Nikola Krstovic has got among the goals. How long it will last remains to be seen but don’t be surprised if there are a few revelations in there.

MILAN 7 – Perhaps the hardest club of all to mark as the departure of Sandro Tonali was such a blow as a future Bandiera of the Rossoneri. However, they have gone out and looked at easing the pressure on Rafael Leao as the main attacking inspiration. Christian Pulisic has hit the ground running and Tijjani Reijnders has also got off to a flyer. If other acquisitions back them up, they could well forget the man who moved to Newcastle very quickly.

MONZA 5.5 – A pretty unexciting window and the loss of Rovella is a blow to the midfield. Arrivals like Roberto Gagliardini and Danilo D’Ambrosio from Inter are hardly the kind of acquisitions to get pulses racing but they are at least dependable performers. It will all, ultimately, be about how they gel on the pitch to see if they can repeat the exploits of last term.

NAPOLI 6 – The champions might well be pleased to only have lost one big name with Kim Min-jae heading to Bayern Munich. Otherwise, it has been pretty much all quiet on the Neapolitan front with no big names to really get supporters excited. However, they have shown themselves more than capable of unearthing surprise successes and Natan and Jens Cajuste might fit that bill this time around.

ROMA 7.5 – Another side to be plundered by Saudi Arabia but the loss of Roger Ibanez may not prove all that painful. Some very interesting new faces in Renato Sanches, Houssem Aouar and Evan Ndicka could give a strong spine to Jose Mourinho’s side and they added Romelu Lukaku late in the day which could really be transformational – with all respect to Andrea Belotti.

SALERNITANA 6.5 – It was all about Boulaye Dia really this summer and fending off the advances of others and ensuring they kept a hold of him was the best piece of business Paulo Sousa’s side could do. The rest of it feels a bit like tinkering around the edges but with the Senegalese striker in place there is every reason for optimism for the campaign to come.

SASSUOLO 5 – Another club with a campaign that will fall into the underwhelming category but they have shown plenty of times that they can do great things with unheralded names. Few players to steal the headlines but they might yet manage to develop some of them into future superstars to sell on.

TORINO 7 – It was slow progress on the transfer front in Turin and it was no surprise to hear that Ivan Juric was once again unconvinced about the summer moves. However, the last few hours brought a lot of excitement around the Stadio Grande Torino with product of club academy Alessandro Buongiorno snubbing a move to Atalanta and Duvan Zapata joining the Granata anyway from Bergamo. With the Colombian man up front, Torino can dream of a European spot, but competition will be stiff.

UDINESE 5 – The loss of Destiny Udogie was already expected but Beto and Rodrigo Becao going also punched holes in Andrea Sottil’s side. A string of arrivals from Watford come as no surprise but perhaps the most interesting new name might be that of Lorenzo Lucca. A spell with Ajax did not work out but he was being mentioned as a potential Italy international and will hope to rebuild that reputation.

VERONA 6 – Losing Adrien Tameze to Torino was bad news but they have moved to try to fill that gap and strengthen the squad for a more comfortable survival. Riccardo Saponara might add a dash of class that was missing last year while Michael Folorunsho should bolster the midfield. Don’t expect fireworks but it might be a little better than last term.