Italian Football / Tobias Gourlay / 02 July 2009 / Leave a comment

As he investigates the Serie A transfer market, Tobias Gourlay is surprised by the fast pace of life in Italian football.

It's been a while since Serie A was widely acknowledged as pre-eminent among European leagues. Paolo Maldini and Pavel Nedved, two old-stagers associated with the James Richardson era of Italian football - when the beautiful game was played best in Europe's most glaringly beautiful country - belatedly took their bows last month, thickening the atmosphere of faded grandeur that pervades calcio on the peninsula today.

There have, however, been some less sentimental exits that will have greater impacts on the future of Italian football. Carlo Ancelotti's departure from San Siro has not been lamented as much as Kaka's because Carletto won only one league title in eight years as coach of AC Milan.

Milan's new coach, Leonardo, must buy a striker to overcome the squad's lack of aerial firepower. The club's top summer target was Wolfsburg's Edin Dzeko, but he is unavailable. The Rossoneri have also looked at Luis Fabiano and Emmanuel Adebayor. According to Studio Sport, Peter Crouch is the next name on their list because he would fit in with the new €4m salary cap at San Siro.

Leonardo must also guard against losing more footballing royalty. Andrea Pirlo recently revealed, 'We have taken Kaka's exit badly'. The club has also rejected a 'monster offer' from an English club for teenage striker Alexandre Pato.

Further transfer speculation around Rafael van der Vaart and Philippe Mexes should not fill the Milan tifosi with much hope of a more sustained title challenge in the coming season. [5.1] is not a good price at which to back the Rossoneri as the 2009/10 winners.

Milan's city rivals, Inter, the reigning champions and [1.92] favourites to retain the title, are the subject of an article that will appear on this website on Monday. Suffice it to report here that they have signed striker Diego Milito and midfielder Thiago Motta, ripping the heart out of the Genoa side that so impressively finished fifth last season. Inter's president, Massimo Moratti, is mostly concerned that Maicon and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are only '50% certain' to be at the club for the start of the new season. Genoa, meanwhile, are also likely to lose their best defender, Matteo Ferrari, to Besiktas in the next few days.

Juventus finished the most recent campaign poorly, and Claudio Ranieri was replaced by Ciro Ferrara, a club legend with no previous experience as a No. 1. President Giovanni Cobolli Gigli has moved decisively in the summer transfer market too. Diego has been bought from Werder Bremen, and should do more than just fill the gap left by Nedved, and Fabio Cannavaro has returned from Real Madrid. The slower pace of the Italian game (the lower standard, perhaps) and the presence of Gigi Buffon behind him are both in the Italy captain's favour. Il presidente has promised at least one more major signing, likely to be a central midfielder.

Fiorentina's Felipe Melo fits the bill, and although his recent contract extension with La Viola has put off Arsenal, Cobolli Gigli might be prepared to meet the new asking price. If they can be backed at somewhere around evens closer to the kick-off of the new season, Juve might be a good Season Match Bet against AC Milan.

Alongside Fiorentina in the second-tier of Italian teams, it is Napoli that have been the most active wheeler-dealers so far. Fabio Quagliarella has joined his hometown club from Udinese. If Ezequiel Lavezzi stays at San Paolo, a very exciting partnership could flower. Luca Cigarini, who looked an intelligent midfielder at the recent European U21 Championships, has also joined. If Blerim Dzemaili's transfer is confirmed, Torino's Swiss holding midfielder would bolster a team that faltered badly in the second half of last season. The Partenopei also have deals in progress for Morgan De Sanctis, Hugo Campagnaro, Juan Zuniga and Julio Cruz.

Roberto Donadoni replaced Edy Reja as coach in March, and was not hugely impressive - only turning defeats into draws - but his efforts in getting Livorno into the top-half for a season and a half should not be sniffed at. If he can start the 2009/10 season well, and win round the passionate but fickle fans, his charges will be worth considering in the Top Three Finish market, even if only as a back-to-lay option.

Roma, who finished sixth last season, have been spending most of their time denying speculation about a takeover by a Swiss consortium. Marco Motta, the Italian U21 defender, has been signed permanently, but he is surely not enough for the Giallorossi to start thinking again of the second-place finishes they achieved earlier in Luciano Spalletti's reign.

This is still early summer, but if Alec Baldwin's advice to real-estate agents in Glengarry Glen Ross - 'A-B-C. A-always, B-be, C-closing' - is sound, then it is Napoli and Juventus who are making most hay while the sun shines.