Serie A is almost back. So close you can nearly taste it. So, while most of Italy is shutting down in advance of Ferragosto, we’re going to spend some time with our Serie A preview, making predictions for the season ahead. Prepare for all of these to look completely wrong in eight months’ time.
In his heyday, everyone detested playing against AC Milan and Filippo Inzaghi. Physically and technically there was nothing about Inzaghi that stood out. He didn’t possess incredible pace or sublime technical skill, but he was an absolute menace nonetheless.
You might’ve seen the myriad of photos throughout June or read one of the countless pieces on Florence’s annual bloodsport, but calcio storico (historic football) only seems to grow in stature and popularity outside of the city with each passing year. You best believe VICE Sports is all about this s**t.
The Serie A season starts in two weeks. The transfer window is open for another three weeks. Due to this strange arrangement, none of the squads are entirely set in stone. This week, we’ll examine some of the most interesting, important and lucrative transfers and assess whether there’s any chance they’ll happen before deadline day.
Clubs: Juventus to Barcelona
With the start of the 2017-18 European season only days away, we take a look at all three promoted clubs in Europe's top four divisions (EPL, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga).
Newcastle United
Having watched derby rivals Milan splash the cash on Leonardo Bonucci, Andre Silva and Hakan Calhanoglu among others, Inter have had to bide their time in the shadows, patiently waiting for their own moment in the sun.
The 2009-10 treble winners last tasted glory in the 2011 Coppa Italia, and now they’re just lurking, ready to unleash themselves on an unsuspecting continent.
Much like how captain and star forward Mauro Icardi is patiently waiting for the Argentinian national team to give him a chance, Internazionale are similarly just enduring the moment.
In a playing career that included stints with Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio and Inter, Serbian Sinisa Mihajlovic built a reputation as one the world’s finest dead-ball specialists. Alongside Andrea Pirlo, no player has scored more goals from direct free kicks in Serie A history than Mihajlovic with 28.
He was named Torino manager before the start of last season and guided the club to a ninth-place finish in Italy’s top flight. For a goalkeeper, playing under Mihajlovic is obviously a nightmare.
As the first words were placed onto this page, Antonio Cassano had rethought his recent decision to retire. He was set to play another season at Hellas Verona, reuniting with Giampaolo Pazzini for a Serie A farewell tour. By the time we got to the final words of this very paragraph — barely the third sentence — he was going to retire again.
Approaching his 40th birthday, Italian shot-stopper Gianluigi Buffon has been open about his plans for the future over the summer. If Juventus fail to win the Champions League this season, Buffon claims he’s “99.9 percent” certain that he’ll end his professional career after the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
If Buffon is able to win that elusive Champions League title, his competitive nature would see him return to the field in an attempt to win the FIFA Club World Cup the following season.
Say this aloud, very slowly: Juventus sold Leonardo Bonucci to AC Milan. Juventus (the biggest team in Italy and six-time defending champions) sold Leonardo Bonucci (one of the world’s best defenders and a future club captain) to AC Milan (a team rapidly shaping up to be a title rival in the coming season). Juventus. Sold Bonucci. To Milan. For €42 million. That would buy you roughly 70 percent of Kyle Walker. Say it aloud. Repeat it slowly. Juventus sold Bonucci to Milan. And still, it hardly makes any sense.