Chelsea fans may have concerns about Gonzalo Higuain, but as Cronan Yu explains, the move could benefit Maurizio Sarri, Alvaro Morata and Juventus.
The last time both Maurizio Sarri and Gonzalo Higuain walked side by side together as player and Coach, it ended with carnage unfolding outside the Stadio San Paolo. Months after scoring a record haul of 36 goals in 35 games to break a record that had stood since 1950, the Argentine had made up his mind; he packed his bags and left, securing a €90 million transfer to Serie A rivals Juventus.
As Carlo Ancelotti prepares to reinvent Marek Hamsik as Napoli’s deep-lying playmaker, Emmet Gates looks at the Slovak’s suitability to the role.
As summer descends over the Bay of Naples, the city feels a fair sense of serenity with Carlo Ancelotti on board. Despite the loss of midfield fulcrum Jorginho to Chelsea, there’s a belief that the good times under Maurizio Sarri will continue. One of the consequences of the Jorginho move, and indeed one of the more interesting facets of the new Ancelotti era, is the deployment of Marek Hamsik as the Italy international’s replacement.
Though the competition for Serie A’s four allotted Champions League spots will be tightly contested, it will remain Milan’s ambition in 2018-19, writes Matthew Santangelo.
After coming up short in their attempt to qualify for top four in 2017-18, despite a second half surge under Gennaro Gattuso, Milan will look to get off on the right foot this upcoming season and press on for Champions League football.
It has been an impressive transfer campaign for Inter, but Richard Hall feels they are still in desperate need of a full-back like Sime Vrsaljko.
Atletico Madrid’s Sime Vrsaljko is a wanted man and Luciano Spalletti made this very clear to the Inter hierarchy.
Maurizio Sarri is Italian like Antonio Conte, but Chelsea fans will learn the similarities largely end there, writes Nick Valerio.
Averaging a trophy a year in his time in charge, Antonio Conte was the latest in a long line of high-profile Coaches to receive his marching orders from the Stamford Bridge hot seat.
Successor Maurizio Sarri, who has finally taken his place in the dugout after his will-he-won’t-he saga, will be charged with bringing a sense of stability to a pre-season that has descended in to chaos.
Cristiano Ronaldo is officially a Juventus player, so why did Real Madrid sanction the sale of their greatest-ever goalscorer? Football Espana’s Livio Caferoglu has the answers…
The date is June 16, 2017. Real Madrid have just won their first European Cup and League double for the first time in 59 years, with Cristiano Ronaldo predictably playing a key role. Yet it is on this day that two of Portugal’s biggest sports newspapers reported the 33-year-old had made an ‘irreversible decision’ to leave Los Blancos. In an era where such headlines could easily be dismissed, there was far more to them than met the eye.
The 2018 World Cup has concluded and Italy fans like Giancarlo Rinaldi found it an oddly empty experience watching from the outside.
The family group chat buzzed only occasionally. We set it up to share our thoughts during the last European Nations and kept it alive for the joy and desperation that only following the Azzurri can provide. Throughout the World Cup in Russia, however, it sat as an all-too-often-silent reminder of Italy's failure to qualify for the first time in a generation or two.
Juventus should be applauded for raising their ambitions on and off the field with Cristiano Ronaldo, writes Daryl Hammond.
When the Bianconeri faithful rose in unison to applaud Cristiano Ronaldo after his stunning bicycle kick at the Allianz Juventus Stadium in the Champions League, it is unlikely they thought they’d be doing it every week.
Juventus astounded the world of football when they made a move for five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
If you have the chance to sign one of the best players the game of football has ever seen, you drop all reservations and do it, right?
The Scudetto contenders might grab all the headlines, but Serie A's mid-table sides are really strengthening this summer, explains Billy Wilkinson.
Whilst the top of the Serie A pack grows stronger with arrivals like Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus and Inter fixing the holes in their team, it appears Serie A’s middle pack are just as busy making important moves.
As always, those who are not blessed with rich owners or a lucrative financial model are forced to find different ways to be successful. Fiorentina’s method is buying promising talent and then developing them into world beaters and their strategy is clearly on show this summer.
After Yonghong Li failed to repay his loan, Elliott have seized control and are working towards rebuilding Milan’s image, writes Matthew Santangelo.
Throughout the course of this ownership dilemma, Milan’s brand has taken quite a hit. The value of the Rossoneri image still remains tremendously high around the world, but the struggles during the past five to six years on the pitch, along with uncertainty at the top, calls for financial stability and total transparency under Elliott Management.
