After Inter Milan won the 2023/24 Serie A season by nearly 20 points in the table, the 2024/25 campaign was far more entertaining, coming down to the wire with the Nerazzurri failing to defend their Scudetto, making it yet another season with a new winner ever since Inter first broke up Juve’s hegemony of the title in 2021.
It was Napoli, going from tenth to first, who conquered Italian football, winning their second title in three seasons after going decades without a triumph. The Scott McTominay-fueled underdogs offered another masterclass in team football, and they’ve already added another big name this summer to join Romelu Lukaku in fellow Belgian icon Kevin De Bruyne.
Napoli aren’t the only ones looking to make moves this summer, and there are still plenty of other big dominos that could fall to Serie A giants before the summer 2025 transfer window ends on Sept. 1.
Here is a transfer every potential Serie A title contender could make befor the end of August.
Napoli
Napoli actually just made a big sale, with Giacomo Raspadori closing in on a move to Atletico Madrid, where he will join the likes of Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth as the latest attacking toy to team up with La Liga legend Antoine Griezmann.
One big name that could join Napoli to bolster their defense – and potentially even midfield – is unwanted Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko, whose technical qualities made him praised by even Manchester City as their cleanest footballer on the ball.
The 28-year-old found himself out of favor at Arsenal last summer following the signing of Serie A superstar Riccardo Calafiori, and he is one of several players who could benefit from a move to the more technical Serie A.
Zinchenko is a general at the left back positions and plays the game like an auxillary midfielder, which Antonie Conte and the Partenopei will appreciate. He’s so good on the ball and has such a great tactical feel for the game that Pep Guardiola once utilized him as a false nine for Man City.
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Inter Milan
Inter Milan have been in hot pursuit of one of the biggest stars in Calcio, Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman. The issue is that Inter are still a couple of million off of the asking price Atalanta have set for the Nigerian superstar, as they are dead set on 50 million euros.
Clearly, the Nerazzurri are going to have to meet that valuation if they want Lookman, because La Dea would much rather sell the star left winger/center forward to a club abroad like Arsenal instead of a direct rival for the Scudetto.
Lookman was arguably the best player in Serie A last season from an attacking perspective after Inter’s striker duo of Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez, and you’d have to think that if Inter can secure the 27-year-old’s signing, they’ll be favorites to win it all again with that attacking trio intact.
READ MORE: The 15 Most Underrated Summer Transfers In European Football History
Atalanta
As Atalanta threaten action against Lookman, who is going AWOL from training to try and force a summer transfer, the underdogs in Bergamo do need to consider making a few more signings in order to keep up with the rest of the crowd in Calcio and carry the momentum from last season to win Serie A.
Atalanta are so close to pulling it off, though if they lose both Lookman and Mateo Retegui in the same transfer window, their chances will take a serious hit; there’s no question about that.
A possible signing for the Gian Piero Gasperini-less outfit would be Jean Philippe-Mateta. A 28-year-old striker from Crystal Palace doesn’t seem like the most exciting name, but Mateta scored 14 goals in the Premier League for a mid-table side and inspired his team to a rare FA Cup triumph.
Mateta is getting better with age, becoming physically stronger and a more refined finisher. He moves pretty fluidly and can fit the Atalanta style, as he did some similar things in the Bundesliga with Mainz. There are barren options, so Mateta could be a nice, affordable safe signing to guarantee Atalanta some goals.
Juventus
Juventus are so far away from contending for the Champions League again that it is truly pathetic what has befallen this club. Instead of becoming more ambitious after signing Cristiano Ronaldo, they saddled themselves with burdensome contracts, wasted their time cycling through managers without any aim, and made more headlines for corruption and stupidity than common sense.
Now, Juve at least have one building block for the future in Kenan Yildiz, but they are still trying to figure out how to surround him with the right talent. Randal Kolo Muani is honestly underwhelming, Jonathan David is great but not a superstar, Dusan Vlahovic has the quality but is beaten down mentally by the club’s incompetence, and Nico Gonzalez is exciting but always injured.
What Juventus need this summer is an injection of attacking quality, and while keeping Kolo Muani is a good idea to give Vlahovic competition, Juve could use another winger after addressing the striker position with David.
There aren’t many great options out there, so if Juve can get Jadon Sancho to back down on his wages, which seems likely at this point since nobody in the world wants to pay him crazy money, it’s a worthwhile investment.
Remember, Sancho was great in the Champions League just a season before when he went back to Borussia Dortmund, appearing in the Final, and a Juventus with Sancho is more dangerous than a Juventus without Sancho.
READ MORE: All-Time Best Serie A XI: Legends Who Defined Italian Football
AC Milan
As bad as Rasmus Hojlund has been in the Premier League for Manchester United, the former Atalanta star is only 22 years old, and it’s easy for recency bias to creep in and the loud and proud Premier League-only faithful to make you forget, but the Danish international was a special talent in Calcio.
Hojlund left Atalanta too soon, and he really shouldn’t have left Serie A at all. He’s a great fit for the league with his dynamism, willingness to take defenders on, and ability to create chances from nothing.
The finishing will come with time, and while Milan are one of the biggest clubs in the world, there’s honestly no pressure on Hojlund if he were to join the Rossoneri (which does seem likely at this point).
There’s not much pressure in Milan these days because 1) Milan were awful anyway last season and 2) if any attacking player gets criticized by the media, then it’s going to be Rafael Leao no matter what.
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Roma
The Gian Piero Gasperini era in Roma has begun, and after Claudio Ranieri saved the Giallorossi from embarrassment and somehow had them on the doorstep of Champions League qualification, the former Atalanta manager now has the tall order of actually building on what the Roma legend did for one season.
Gasperini has some pieces to work with, but Roma still require actual investment into the squad in order to reach a status in Serie A that befits their standing as one of the biggest and most popular clubs in European football as a whole. Of course, investment has been hard to come by under the Friedkins – just ask Jose Mourinho.
One option for Roma in the final weeks of the summer window before August ends is Claudio Echeverri. Roma have made the mistake of focusing too much on veteran players and not enough on young stars around Europe, so Echeverri is a step in the right direction as a transfer target.
Echeverri is going to be very difficult to pry away from perennial Premier League title contenders Manchester City, but that’s precisely why Roma should be pushing so hard to convince City to part ways with him; these are the kinds of high-upside young talents who will actually move the needle for them.
The Roma midfield has lacked dynamism and the ability to shift gears with an elite ball progressor. They have some solid players, including stingy defenders like Bryan Cristante, but they need someone who can do a bit of everything at a high level. Echeverri can be that guy.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.