THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY

NAPOLI The Azzurri fell at the last hurdle in May, drawing at home to Verona and missing out on Champions League qualification. This season it is vitally important for them to re-join the top four and that task has been given to former Roma and Inter coach Luciano Spalletti. There hasn’t been much in way of transfer activity through the summer, and the core of the side that flopped under Gennaro Gattuso is still there. Elseid Hysaj, and Nikola Maksimovic have been released by the club, while free agent Juan Jesus joins to add some depth in defence.

LAST SEASON FINISH: 5TH ROMA I Giallorossi was another side that had a disappointing season last term, finishing seventh and losing to Manchester United in the semi-final of Europa League. This season they will be the first Italian side to compete in the inaugural edition of the Europa Conference League and with Jose Mourinho replacing Paulo Fonseca in the dugout, it’s possible the Portuguese coach might want to add that cup to his trophy cabinet. Goalkeeper Rui Patricio joins from Wolves and striker Tammy Abraham arrives from Chelsea for a reported €45m fee. Bruno Peres, Juan Jesus, and Antonio Mirante were all released by the club, while Cengiz Under and Pau Lopez join Olympique Marseille. SALERNITANA I Granata came second in Serie B last term and won promotion to the top flight for the first time since the 1998-1999 season. However, their involvement in this year’s Serie A had come under threat since Lazio patron Claudio Lotito also owns the Salerno outfit and it is against the rules for someone to own two teams in the same division. Lotito apparently ceded control of the club and the Campanians were accepted for the upcoming season. Coach Fabrizio Castori will have his work cut out for him to ensure his side stay in the league, he will have some attacking firepower at his disposal with the arrival of Simy Nwankwo from Crotone and Sampdoria’s Federico Bonazzoli.

RIGHT, BOTTOM: Spezia’s Italian forward Daniele Verde (C) celebrates after scoring a goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match Spezia Calcio vs As Roma

LAST SEASON FINISH: 7TH PROMOTED TO SERIE A

SAMPDORIA Claudio Ranieri led I Blucerchiati to a decent finish last season, ending up in ninth place after a poor start to the campaign. Roberto D’Aversa has replaced Ranieri in the hot seat at the Marassi this term and will be hoping his side can again fight for a top half finish. Former Inter defender Jeison Murillo has arrived from Celta Vigo, while Gaston Ramirez and Vasco Regini have been released by the club.

LAST SEASON FINISH: 9TH SASSUOLO The Neroverdi just missed out on Europa Conference League qualification by the headto-head rule after they finished level on points with Roma. Coach Roberto De Zerbi was poached by Shakhtar Donetsk and has been replaced by Alessio Dionisi, who guided Empoli to the Serie B title last season. The 41-year-old will have his work cut out for him to continue the attacking ethos that the Emilia-Romagna club has adhered to over the years. Brazilian midfielder Matheus Henrique arrives from Gremio, while Manuel Locatelli moved to Juventus after impressing at Euro 2020. SPEZIA The Aquilotti finished 15th in their first ever season in Serie A, avoiding the drop by six points. Under coach Vincenzo Italiano, the Ligurian outfit claimed some high-profile scalps in wins over Napoli and Milan. Italiano has left for pastures new and has been replaced in the dugout by former Inter midfielder Thiago Motta. The ex-Genoa trainer will hope to get the best out of what is a very young squad. Ukraine international Viktor Kovalenko arrives on loan from Atalanta.

LAST SEASON FINISH: 15TH

ABOVE, LEFT: Roma’s Stephan El Shaarawy (R) in action during the friendly soccer match between AS Roma and Raja Club Athletic at the Olympic Stadium

ABOVE, MIDDLE: Lorenzo Insigne now has Euro championship experiecne to bring home to his club.

LAST SEASON FINISH: 8TH

DID YOU KNOW?

Andrea Belotti is the only player that scored only player that scored at least 10 Serie A goals in each season among 2015/16 and 2020/21 campaign. Giovanni Simeone is the Giovanni Simeone is the only player born since only player born since 1/1/1995 to have scored at least 50 Serie A goals, at least 50 Serie A goals, most of them coming most of them coming from his stint at Cagliari. from his stint at Cagliari.

José Mourinho has become the fastest manager to reach 50 Serie A wins (77 games) in the three points for a win era (since 199495). The Portuguese coach is also the fastest manager to have reached 50 wins both in Premier League (63 games) and in LaLiga (62).

TORINO I Granata just about saved themselves from being sent down to Serie B by holding Benevento to a draw on the last day of the season. Ivan Juric replaces David Nicola in the Torino hot-seat and will be tasked with rebuilding a team that disappointed last term and get them as high up the table as possible, as another relegation battle is not what President Urbano Cairo wants. Nicolas Nkoulou, Salvatore Sirigu, and Soualiho Meite have all left the club, while Albanian goalkeeper Etrit Berisha arrives from SPAL.

LAST SEASON FINISH: 17TH UDINESE Le Zebrette hit the 40-point mark and downed tools towards the tail end of last season and a similar nondescript, unexciting campaign is probably in store for Udinese again this term. Coach Luca Gotti will have to do without the services of talisman Rodrigo De Paul who joined Atletico Madrid for a reported €35m fee. Goalkeeper Marco Silvestri has joined from Verona to replace Juan Musso, who left for Atalanta, while Poland international striker Lukasz Teodorczyk has returned from his loan spell at Belgian side Sporting Charleroi.

LAST SEASON FINISH: 14TH

VENEZIA I Lagunari won promotion from Serie B through the playo s and will compete in the top flight for the first time since 2000. Coach Paolo Zanetti is an unknown quantity in Serie A, having previously only managed at Sudtirol and Ascoli before being handed the keys at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo. Defender Mattia Caldara arrives on loan from Milan to try reigniting his flagging career after several injuries put it on hold, while American wonderkid Gianluca Busio joins from Sporting Kansas City.

PROMOTED TO SERIE A

João Pedro has become the fifth player in the history of #Cagliari to have scored in seven di erent Serie A campaigns, after Luigi Riva (12) Daniele Conti (11), Nene (10) and Ricciotti Greatti (7).

There had been 36 goals scored in Serie A matchday one this season, Serie A campaigns, after Luigi Riva the most in an Italian top-flight MD1 since the 1950/51 campaign (45).

VERONA The Gialloblu finished in the top half of the table despite not winning any of their last nine games of the season. Coach Ivan Juric has left to take over at Torino and has been replaced by Eusebio Di Francesco, who will be hoping his side are still competing for a Europa Conference League qualification spot at the end of the campaign. Goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo has arrived from Benevento on loan to replace the outgoing Silvestri, while Gianluca Frabotta also joins from Juventus for the year.

LAST SEASON FINISH: 10TH LAST SEASON FINISH: 10TH

ABOVE, LEFT: Belotti looks to lead Torino to a succesful campagin

ABOVE, RIGHT: Gianluca Frabotta has joined Verona from Juventus

RIGHT: Federico Chiesa turned heads at Euro 2020, so he will be one to watch

TOP SERIE A PICKS

There’s a concern that Serie A has lost its lustre this season as Romelu Lukaku moved on, but there are still plenty of players to keep an eye on, says Ciro Di Brita.

TAMMY ABRAHAM English striker Abraham arrives from Chelsea for a reported €40m fee, boosting Jose Mourinho’s attacking options after the departure of Edin Dzeko to Inter. The 23-year-old struggled to find minutes on the field last season when Thomas Tuchel took over at Chelsea but still managed to score 12 times in all competitions.

FEDERICO CHIESA Fresh from helping Italy win the European Championship the 23-year-old will be hoping to continue the explosive form he displayed during the tournament. Forming a potentially devastating front-three which also includes Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala, it will be interesting to see if coach Max Allegri takes the shackles o his attacking players.

OLIVIER GIROUD The France World Cup Winner has finally arrived in Serie A having been linked with a move to the peninsula for years and will now team up with fellow veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Giroud will be tasked with providing the firepower and linkup play for the Rossoneri to compete in both the Champions League and Serie A.

DENZEL DUMFRIES Wing back Dumfries showcased the full array of his skills during the summer’s

European Championship despite the Netherlands crashing out of the tournament to the Czech Republic. The 25-year-old scored twice and looks ready to fill the gap vacated by Achraf Hakimi’s departure to PSG.

VICTOR OSIMHEN The Nigerian striker had a bit of a start stop season last term. Despite su ering injuries and missing games through Covid-19 the 22-year-old showed enough promise to make him a real danger man heading into this campaign. New Coach Luciano Spalletti will be hoping he can get the most out of the attacker and improve on his 10 goals from last year.