La Gazzetta dello Sport analyses the errors made by Serie A giants in the summer transfer window, naming Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Divock Origi among the biggest flops.
Napoli are en route to winning the third title in history following an impressive transfer campaign that saw him secure the services of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Min-jae Kim for less than €30m combined.
Their opponents, on the other hand, have not been as smart and their poor decision in the market have been reflected on the pitch with the Partenopei enjoying a 19-point lead over Lazio, their closest rival.
Gazzetta analyses the purchases made by Inter, Juventus, Roma and Milan, writing that the Rossoneri were the team that made the most errors in the summer: ‘a disaster,’ writes the pink paper in Wednesday’s printed edition.
Charles De Ketelaere, their most expensive signing (€35m including add-ons) ‘is not worth the investment’ while Origi ‘has flopped.’ CDK hasn’t yet scored in Serie A this season, while the ex-Liverpool forward only found the net twice across all competitions.
Yacine Adli, Sergino Dest and Aster Vranckx have been struggling with playing time and have never had a real impact at San Siro.
Juventus’ biggest flop is surely Pogba who underwent meniscus surgery in September and has only played 35 minutes after signing an €8m-a-year contract last summer. Likewise, Leandro Paredes has been struggling with playing time and put in disappointing performances, so he will return to PSG at the end of the season.
Inter strongly relied on Lukaku to win their second Serie A title in three seasons, but the Belgium forward has been hit by injuries only scoring five goals in 19 appearances. Big Rom will return to Chelsea in the summer and it’s unsure whether Inter will try to bring him back to the Stadio Meazza in 2023-24.
Raoul Bellanova and Kristjan Asllani have also failed to impress and the Italian full-back is expected to return to Cagliari at the end of his loan spell in June.
Lazio’s most expensive purchases Luis Maximiano and Marcos Antonio have not become regular starters under Maurizio Sarri and the same is true of Zeki Celik at Roma. Andrea Belotti joined the Giallorossi as a free agent last summer but hasn’t yet scored in 22 Serie A appearances.
I feel for Milan, I felt those were good signings, shame it didn’t work out. I was sure CDK would be a smash hit.