The deadline is over and we miss a few Januarys. While some Serie A clubs were licking their wounds after an indifferent start to the season, the 2023-24 winter transfer window temporarily heated up with Napoli quickly going stronger. While creditors went into hiding, Hellas Verona disembarked as many passengers as possible from the sinking ship, prioritizing monetary security over high-flying safety.
Honorable mentions will have to be given to some of Calcio’s most productive players who have moved abroad. After 225 appearances and 14 goals for Empoli and AC Milan, Rade Krunić joins Leonardo Bonucci at Fenerbahçe. Koray Günter has been loaned to Fatih Karagümrük after racking up to one hundred appearances in all competitions in Genoa and Verona. With a career that began in Ravenna in 2008, Riccardo Saponara has represented seven Serie A clubs (237 Serie A matches), adding Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Genoa, and will fight them in the Turkish Cup. Superlig in the Ankaragücü shirt.
North Macedonia Scudetto winner Eljif Elmas has scored 19 goals for Napoli in five seasons, and the Azzurri received a sum of $26 million (€24 million) from RB Leipzig. Radu Dragusin’s move from Genoa to Tottenham Hotspur generated a quick $24 million revenue stream – not bad for a 21-year-old who has only made 19 Serie A appearances for Grifone.
What’s better than scoring four goals in the first two games? The return of Szymon Zurkowski to Empoli (from Serie B side Spezia) was as explosive as the arrival of Davide Nicola to the bench. The Tuscans, languishing in 19th place, turned to Signor Houdini, a nickname attributed to Nicola’s ability to avoid relegation following his exploits with Salernitana, Torino and Crotone. Zurkowski’s brilliant hat-trick against Monza on Matchday 21 helped Nicola instill enough confidence in his team, who drew 1-1 against Juventus the following week. That’s 4 league editions in two games, a feat that Empoli has only achieved once before in 2023-24.
At the other end of the spectrum, Pasquale Mazzocchi’s Napoli debut lasted just four minutes, with him red carded for a challenge against Turin after switching his allegiance to his boyhood club, Salernitana, for $3. 27 million.
Cyril Ngonge tops the list with his $19. 6 million move from Hellas to Naples. The Belgian arrived in Italy a year ago from Groningen and has fascinated the best clubs in Serie A with 14 goals (11 goals, 3 assists) in 34 games. While coach Walter Mazzarri searches for answers, the Belgian news is a ball carrier and a tough finisher. The 23-year-old could be the heir apparent to Piotr Zielinski, whose focus is on joining Inter in June.
Bologna FC has invested $13 million in the case of Santiago Castro, the teenage striker who signed a four-and-a-half-year contract hours before scoring for Argentina’s U-23 team in a 5-0 win over Chile. The one-year-old is strong in the air, scoring goals from 30 yards and is known for his amazing close-range prowess. With nine senior targets at Velez Sarsfield, Bologna have planned the summer sale of Joshua Zirkzee.
Roma have also drawn up a long-term plan with the acquisition of Italy Under-21 artistic midfielder Tommaso Baldanzi for $10. 9 million from Empoli. The 20-year-old will bring team spirit to the top three, partnering Romelu Lukaku and Paolo Dybala, and locate more area and time on the ball.
Former Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng joins Salernitana, who are at the bottom of the table after 4 consecutive defeats. The 35-year-old last played for Laurent Blanc’s Lyon in a 4-man backline. Boateng, who represented Germany 76 times and won the 2014 championship. World Cup in Brazil, he is unlikely to experience the same sense of victory under coach Filippo Inzaghi.
As usual, Udinese’s scouts hunted down South America and finished off a seasoned Argentinian centre-back. Lautaro Giannetti is 30 years old and arrives in Friuli after ten seasons at Vélez Sarsfield, Santiago Castro’s former team. Don’t be surprised with Giannetti at some point at Watford, the Pozzo family’s England-based club. The Zebrettes were one of three clubs, along with Lazio and Cagliari, that refused to spend the entire month of January.
First, it was AC Milan and Manchester City, and then Napoli took the bait. 193cm Serbian trequartista (playmaker) Matija Popović has just turned 18 years old and has been signed by Monza as part of a wider deal that will see the former Partizan Belgrade prodigy return to Napoli in June.
Juventus centre-back Dean Huijsen has already made four appearances for Roma, and 18-year-old coach Daniele De Rossi is replenishing dwindling reserves in defence alongside RB Leipzig left-back Angelino. Davide Faraoni has left Verona for Fiorentina, which expands on the characteristics of Vincenzo Italiano. on the flanks. The Viola coach has gone to great lengths to sign Andrea Belotti from Roma, who will swap with Luca Beltran and Mbala Nzola as the club strives to finish in the top four.
Vitinha’s arrival from Marseille is exciting, but England’s Djed Spence could be Genoa’s lucky charm. The London-born winger, who left Leeds after seven appearances, has any of Rossoblu’s 2-1 wins since arriving on loan from Tottenham.
GENOA, ITALY – JANUARY 28: Genoa’s Djed Spence is in action at the Serie A fit TIM. . . [ ] between Genoa CFC and US Lecce – Serie A TIM at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on January 28, 2024 in Genoa, Italy. Photo via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Napoli have also cast their net across the English Channel, with Aston Villa’s Leander Dendoncker covering Gianluca Gaetano’s loan at Cagliari. He will be joined by former Sassuolo playmaker Hamed Traore, who returns to Italy after a horror era with Bournemouth. The Partenopei sent full-backs Alessio Zerbin to Monza and Alessandro Zanoli to Salernitana.
Genoa’s Nigerian striker David Ankeye, who scored three goals for Sheriff Tiraspol in the UEFA Europa League (UEL), could face Empoli who returned M’baye Niang to Serie A after scoring eight goals at Adana Demirspor.
Foreign Polish striker Karol Swiderski could make his Verona debut against Napoli. With 33 goals for Charlotte in MLS, the 27-year-old could create magic against Tijjani Noslin.
Argentine midfielder Carlos Alcaraz arrived on loan at Juventus from Southampton just before the transfer deadline and could make his debut in the Italian Derby clash (first vs. second) against Inter Milan. Tajon Buchanan will be the first Canadian to play in Serie A if Simone Inzaghi gives him time to play.
Of the $117 million (€108 million) spent through Italian clubs in January, $60. 8 million (€55. 88 million) changed hands within Italy’s borders, adding up the two Serie B transfers of Eduardo Goldaniga to Como and Fillippo Rannocchia to Palermo.
Filippo Ranocchia of Palermo FC participates in the Serie B BKT match between US Catanzaro 1929 and Array. [ ] Palermo FC in Catanzaro, Italy, on January 26, 2024. (Photo by Gabriele Maricchiolo/NurPhoto Getty Images)
The Italian government’s resolve not to extend the Crescita Decree, the expansion decree tax exemption that has helped attract bigger names, has hampered Serie A clubs that need to attract the maximum productive capacity on the planet. The budget has become the priority of most clubs, most of them on credit cards.
Hopefully, a successful year in European competitions like the UEFA Champions League can spark a busy summer of negotiations.