AC Milan pull off a dramatic rebuild

Transfer grades for continental teams head to Italy today, though we won’t be getting all of our Serie A analysis into one piece. We thought Italy was the country that had the most interesting teams to cover on the continent this year, so a couple get tacked onto the end as a bonus. You’ll get Roma and Como with the French teams on Friday.

Italy has a pretty insane amount of player trading around U21s and their Primavera squads, so these transfer lists will not be comprehensive. When a player got sold or loaned for a verified fee, it’s included in totals, but there are literally hundreds of guys moved around for nominal fees every year.

Inter Milan — Still old, not aggressive enough

Total incomings — €75m

• Ange-Yoan Bonny — €23m + €2m add-ons

• Andy Diouf — €20m + €5m add-ons

• Petar Susic — €14m + €2.5m add-ons

• Nicola Zalewski — €6.5m

• Manuel Akanji — Loan, conditional buy obligation

At the very end of last season, I wrote about Inter’s ageing squad and how they were unlikely to get a better shot at the Champions League in the coming years. The overall quality of their squad is on course to go down to some extent as their stars age, but they are at least preparing for the future, as is evidenced by the fact that five of their six summer signings were aged 23 or younger.

Luis Henrique mostly played as a winger for Marseille last season, so he should add a new dimension to the squad as a very attack-minded wing back who can pose a serious dribbling threat. Ange-Yoan Bonny is an interesting striker profile, who Kim compared to Marcus Thuram last October. Andy Diouf and Petar Sučić are both good recruits who should be nice stylistic fits in midfield. Manuel Akanji doesn’t help in bringing the back line’s average age down, but I don’t mind the move for the fee. — NS

Kim: C+ | Moe: B- | Neel: B | Hayden: B-

Total outgoings — €49m

• Nicola Zalewski — €17m

• Aleksandar Stankovic — €10m

• Tajon Buchanan — €9m

• Martin Satriano — €5m

• Mehdi Taremi — €2.5m

• Filip Stankovic — €1.5m

• Marko Arnautović — Free

• Kristjan Asllani — Loan, conditional buy obligation

• Sebastiano Esposito — Loan, conditional buy obligation

• Benjamin Pavard — Loan, buy option

Inter have not been good at selling older players in recent years, but they did at least move on a couple like Marko Arnautović and Mehdi Taremi to free up some wages. They flipped a nice profit on Nicola Zalewski, though none of the other fees stand out. Aleksandar Stanković has looked good in the first weeks of the season with Club Brugge, so the Belgian side should be pleased with that deal. Benjamin Pavard admittedly did not have as much of an impact as one would have liked last season, but I don’t think that’s a great sale either. — NS

Kim: C | Moe: C+ | Neel: C | Hayden: B-

Inter have pretty much preserved the ageing core of their squad this summer, and they still should be good enough to remain fairly competitive. None of their signings are expected to be standout contributors, so they might lack something of an X factor in the title race. There’s nothing overly remarkable in terms of outgoings except for Simone Inzaghi’s departure, which is sure to be a big loss. — NS

Overall grade: C+

AC Milan — Well that was a dramatic summer

Total incomings — €173.5m

• Christopher Nkunku — €38m + €4m add-ons

• Ardon Jashiri — €34m + €3m add-ons

• Samuele Ricci — €23m + €1.5m add-ons

• Pervis Estupinan — €17m + €3m add-ons

• Koni De Winter — €15m + €5m add-ons

• Zachary Athekame — €10m

• Adrien Rabiot — €9m + €1m add-ons

• David Odugo — €7m + €3m add-ons

• Luka Modric — Free

• Pietro Tarracciano — Free

After their worst league finish in a decade, Milan have rather overhauled their squad over the summer. They were certainly helped by a couple of big sales, with which they raised enough to make a number of signings in midfield and defence especially. After a long-winded negotiation, 23-year-old Ardon Jashari joined his age-mate Samuele Ricci in moving to Milan to add some solidity to their midfield for a combined fee of close to €60m.

They were joined by another youngster by the name of Luka Modrić, who is actually quite good. At the end of the window, they also reunited Massimiliano Allegri with Adrien Rabiot, honouring an age-old tradition. In the back line, Pervis Estupiñán is an excellent signing for that fee, while Zachary Athekame and Koni De Winter provide some much-needed depth and bring the average age down, though they did not come cheap. Christopher Nkunku is the signing I would question the most at that price, but he could add some much-needed dynamism to the front line in the absence of Rafael Leão. — NS

Kim: B+ | Moe: B | Neel: B | Hayden: B+

Total outgoings — €191m

• Tijjani Reinders — €55m

• Malick Thiaw — €38m + €4m add-ons

• Theo Hernandez — €25m

• Noah Okafor — €21m

• Pierre Kaluku — €14.3m

• Emerson Royal — €9m

• Yacine Adli — €8m

• Marco Pellegrino — €4m

• Marco Sportiello — €1m

• Davide Calabria — Free

• Luka Jovic — Free

• Alessandro Florenzi — Free

• 7 senior players loaned out

Despite their poor performances, Milan managed to bring in quite a lot of money with their sales. Tijjani Reijnders’ much-discussed move to Manchester City made the headlines, but I’d say getting €25m to keep Theo Hernández away from Allegri is just as good. €21m for Noah Okafor is also excellent after he played a grand total of 454 minutes in the league last term. Malick Thiaw went to Newcastle for a decent fee as well, and there are a few more departures with options to buy that could take their sales over €200 million if executed. — NS

Kim: A | Moe: A- | Neel: A- | Hayden: A+

Given the context of their on-pitch showings last season, Milan should be quite pleased with the transfer window. I am far from the biggest fan of Massimiliano Allegri, but I must concede that he does tend to get results. The squad has been moulded quite a bit to suit his style in just one summer – all while generating a net profit on player trading. — NS

Overall grade: A-

Napoli — Can they prove us wrong again?

Total incomings — €116m

• Sam Beukema — €30m

• Noa Lang — €25m

• Miguel Gutierrez — €20m

• Luca Marianucci — €9m

• Kevin De Bruyne — Free

• Lorenzo Lucca — Loan, buy obligation

• Vanja Milinkovic-Savic — Loan, buy obligation

• Rasmus Hojlund — Loan, conditional buy obligation

• Eljif Elmas — Loan, buy option

We took Napoli to task for sinking a ton of money into older players requested by Antonio Conte last year, but they went and won a Scudetto. Even if those do become ball-and-chain contracts that weigh down the club into the future, we have to take an L on that one. Even if they stink for a decade, I’m sure they’re happy to trade that for a title.

As for what they’ve done this year, it’s… fine. I think that all of their 3 big money signings are OK, slight but not egregious overpays. They’re all prime-age players. There’s nothing disastrous here. I actually love the signing of De Bruyne on a free, even if he is yet another possible ball-and-chain in a year or two. Serie A is a slower league with less intense pressing and transitional play, and he’ll probably make a very positive impact.

I once won a Champions League in Football Manager with Lorenzo Lucca as my leading scorer, and for that reason he is my godson. In real life, I am not sure if he is good at anything besides jumping high and heading the ball. Rasmus Hojlund just does cardio out there most of the time, and I doubt they’ll end up triggering his buy option. — KM

Kim: C+ | Moe: C+ | Neel: C+ | Hayden: C

Total outgoings — €130m

• Victor Osimhen — €75m

• Giacomo Raspadori — €22m + €4m add-ons

• Natan — €9m

• Elia Caprile — €8m

• Gianluca Gaetano — €6m

• 9 senior players loaned out

While my colleagues have given Napoli positive grades for raking in so much money, I am not going to give them credit for getting their asking price for Victor Osimhen when they should have never pissed him off and shoved him out the door in the first place. They could have simply not acted weird and had Victor Osimhen playing for them. — KM

Kim: C | Moe: A- | Neel: B | Hayden: B+

I don’t think this is particularly good player trading or long-term squad building, but Conte’s a wizard so they’ll finish top 4 and get away with it. — KM

Overall grade: B-

Atalanta — Still doing their thing

Total incomings — €141m

• Nikola Krstovic — €25m + €5m add-ons

• Honest Ahanor — €17m + €6m add-ons

• Kamaldeen Sulemana — €17m + €4m add-ons

• Odilon Kossounou — €20m

• Nicola Zalewski — €17m

• Lazar Samardzic — €15m

• Marco Brescianini — €10m

• Marco Sportiello — €1m

• Yunus Musah — Loan, buy option

Compared to some of the other continental clubs we’ve done grades for, Atalanta had a very busy summer. Both Odilon Kossounou and Lazar Samardžić have shown stretches of top notch play, and their permanent deals have substantial upside if they can put it all together. Marco Brescianini could end up being more of squad depth, which Atalanta needs given the fixture congestion they’ll be dealing with.

Nikola Krstović has been a shot monster in Serie A with Lecce, and Atalanta paid a significant fee hoping he can be their focal point. Kamaldeen Sulemana comes to Serie A trying to reignite his career for a non-insignificant fee and sell-on clause from Southampton. There’s considerable hype around Honest Ahanor as an aggressive carrier and defender who is already physically stout as a teenager. Nicola Zalewski also could help on the left side to help replace the departing Matteo Ruggeri, albeit he’s barely played the last two seasons. Musah is a capable (albeit somewhat limited) midfielder who comes to Atalanta for a loan and buy option at €24m. — MM

Kim: B | Moe: B+ | Neel: B | Hayden: B

Total outgoings — €111m

• Mateo Retegui — €69m

• Matteo Ruggeri — €17m + €3m add-ons

• Roberto Piccoli — €12m

• Michel Ndary Adopo — €3.8m

• Juan Musso — €3m

• Rui Patricio — Free

• Rafael Toloi — Free

• Juan Cuadrado — Free

• 5 senior players loaned out

It still remains astounding just how much Atalanta received from Al-Qadsiah for Mateo Retegui based off of one season. Admittedly, it was a terrific 2024-25 campaign in which his 25 goals made him Serie A’s highest scorer, which was only the 2nd time an Atalanta player has accomplished this after Filippo Inzaghi in 1996–97. Maybe it was possible he could’ve had a similar season in 2025-26, and there are worries with how to replace his goals. Even still, you take that fee every time.

The other major story in terms of outgoings was Ademola Lookman still remaining with Atalanta despite a transfer request being submitted. His career has blossomed in Italy and he’s been one of the best attacking talents in Europe on a per minute basis. Him coming back is a bit awkward given he clearly wanted out and Atalanta will almost surely get less for him next summer with only one year left on his deal, but players of his caliber don’t come around often. — MM

Kim: A | Moe: A- | Neel: A- | Hayden: A

A lot of moves were made this summer, most of it revolving around capable early-prime talents who can maybe come together to be better than the sum of its parts. What Atalanta did this summer was somewhat reminiscent of Nottingham Forest’s approach, but I think the former got better deals on players who can really help them. Who knows how long it will take Lookman to regain his form this season, as he likely needs to be in form for them to have any shot at contending in Serie A once again. Perhaps the biggest wildcard is losing Gian Piero Gasperini over the summer, who left for Roma after submitting one of the great coaching tenures out of anyone in Europe over the last 15 years. Maybe Ivan Jurić can step in and keep the machine rolling, but it’s a lot to ask. Purely looking at player trading, I think Atalanta were quite good. — MM

Overall grade: B+

Juventus — It’s fine. No more, no less.

Total incomings — €135.5m

• Francisco Conceição — €30.5m + €1.5m add-ons

• Nicolás González — €28m (loaned out)

• Lloyd Kelly — €23m

• Edon Zhegrova — €15m + €3.5m add-ons

• Michele Di Gregorio — €14.3m

• Joao Mario — €11.4m + €1.2m add-ons

• A dozen U21/academy buys — €4m

• Jonathan David — Free

• Lois Openda — Loan, option to buy

For a minute, it looked like Juve weren’t going to exercise their option to buy Conceição, which would have been a minor disaster. Thankfully, they worked out terms with Porto in the end, and he should be a key player for them going forward.

Juventus went on a bit of a transfer diet after going apeshit last year, with four of their five biggest fees being players they had on loan last season. One of them, Gonzalez, has already been flipped.

Zhegrova was OK, not spectacular for Lille last season, and I don’t get his purchase at all. Joao Mario was an excellent playmaking fullback at Porto, and I like his signing. Same for the strikers, Jonathan David and Lois Openda, proven producers who come in at bargain prices. — KM

Kim: B- | Moe: B- | Neel: B+ | Hayden: C+

Total outgoings — €98m

• Nicolò Rovella — €17m

• Alberto Costa — €14m + €2m add-ons

• Nicolo Savona — €13m + €2.5m add-ons

• Samuel Mbangula — €10m + €2m add-ons

• Luca Pellegrini — €4m

• Hans Nicolussi Caviglia — €3.5m

• Tiago Djalo — €3.5m

• Tarik Muharemovic — €3m

• Nikola Sekulov — €1.5m

• Martin Palumbo — €1m

• 3 senior players loaned

Juventus managed to farm a lot of fees from fringe/Primavera players this summer to get themselves out of a minor financial pickle. Gonzalez is also on loan with an obligation to buy for Atlético Madrid that will see them break even on a transfer that now looks like a mistake, so minimal harm done there.

Failure to get someone to take Dusan Vlahovic off their hands is a bit of an L. — KM

Kim: B | Moe: C+ | Neel: C | Hayden: B-

While Juventus didn’t do anything impressive this summer, they mostly did what they had to do. It was a year to take their medicine, get the books right and prep for the next big push. — KM

Overall grade: B-

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