League Focus: Where Serie A's Big Hitters Need to Strengthen this Week

“The league is a marathon, not a 100m sprint,” Max Allegri reflected after Juventus’ false start on Sunday evening. As the calciomercato enters its final week, however, a mad dash is beginning.

The front page of Tuesday’s La Gazzetta dello Sport gave the impression that panic really is setting in. It declared an S.O.S on behalf of the champions, and the principal pretenders to their throne, Roma, Milan and Napoli. So far they have spent a combined €268m and, as La Repubblica pointed out, all they got to show for it at the weekend was a lousy point between them. What is it then that they and fellow contenders Inter are looking for between now and the end of the window?

Juventus

“Is Cuadrado enough?” asked Tuttosport after Juventus lost at home on the opening day of the season for the first time ever in Serie A, bringing an end to a 47-game unbeaten run in the league at the J Stadium. It would have been enough for Antonio Conte. A year ago one of the supposed reasons why he resigned was because the board refused to satisfy his wish to sign Cuadrado. So in that context picking him up on loan is a coup.

Cuadrado completed a dribble every 26 minutes at Fiorentina and made more than any other player during his time at the Franchi [280]. He knows one of Juventus’ systems, the 3-5-2, provides the option of playing 4-3-3, brings pace and dynamism and that ability to create numerical superiority by beating opponents in 1 v 1s. Available and at low cost, it was an opportunity to take.

Juventus need imagination and ideas after the exit of Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez. A No.10 remains a priority - a final bid is expected for Julian Draxler – as is a midfield all-rounder. Even though Kwadwo Asamoah is due to come back and Allegri can call upon Roberto Pereyra, Stefano Sturaro and Simone Padoin, injuries to Claudio Marchisio and Sami Khedira have also made Juventus think that an extra body in midfield would be welcome and as such the versatile Marcelo Bielsa-educated Mario Lemina is being lined up from Marseille.

Roma

It would be a shame if unanswered questions at full-back were to hold Roma back this season. On Saturday in Verona, their left-back [Vasilis Torosidis] wasn’t playing on his natural side and their right-back [Alessandro Florenzi] was in his wrong position. Lucas Digne has finally arrived from PSG and addresses the issue on the left-hand flank.

Antonio Rudiger, a centre-back signed on loan from Stuttgart, can play on the right but, in a move reminiscent of those made last January, is out until September. Roma also can’t possibly believe Maicon is suddenly going to leave all his physical problems behind him. He started 11 league games last season. Torino’s Bruno Peres has long been mentioned as a target. Is Adem Ljajic’s exit what they’re waiting for before doing this deal? Peres completed more dribbles [80] than any other defender in Serie A last season and was sixth overall. He could be the solution.

Milan

“As [my old mentor] Boskov used to say, how the midfield plays decides how the team plays and today it didn’t play well,” Sinisa Mihajlovic grimaced after Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Fiorentina. Milan have never replaced Andrea Pirlo and the absence of anyone capable of giving a tempo, purpose and sense of direction to their play is glaring.

Linked with Ilkay Gündogan a month ago, they weren’t going to get him then and certainly won’t be getting him now but that’s the calibre of player they’re missing. Rumours of a move for Axel Witsel still linger. He had the highest pass completion rate in Russia last season [88.9%] and ranked second for accurate passes in the last three RPL campaigns [3040] but the money Zenit are asking for is ludicrous.

In the meantime Mihajlovic would like a reunion with Roberto Soriano, his hard-working No.10 at Sampdoria. He created 49 chances last season and the 70 fouls he committed are illustrative of a player who looks to win the ball back high up the pitch. Why Milan are taking Mario Balotelli on loan when they have spent €38m on Carlos Bacca and Luiz Adriano is a mystery. Their top scorer from last season Jeremy Menez is still to come back and they have Alessio Cerci, not to mention Alessandro Matri, who was good enough to be a back up for Juventus last season and scored in the Coppa Italia semi-final and final.  

Inter

After bringing in a right-back [Montoya], two centre-backs [Murillo and Miranda], a midfielder [Kondogbia] and a multi-purpose attacking player [Jovetic], Inter coach Roberto Mancini still isn’t happy. In a post-match interview with Sky Italia on Sunday night, he complained: “We’re short. No, actually, we’re very short.”  The man is insatiable. But Billy Costacurta agreed. “They’re missing three full-backs, two midfielders and one or two attacking players.”

Montoya has already been written off on the right and it’s clear Mancini believes Inter can do better than D’Ambrosio, Nagatomo and Santon on the left. Interest in Melo remains even if he has penned a new contract with Gala, is too similar to Medel and doesn’t convince as the passer Inter desperately need.

Ivan Perisic has been on stand-by for a month but Wolfsburg don’t believe Inter have the money and can’t risk losing him this late in the window if Kevin de Bruyne goes to Man City. A direct player, he created 26 chances last season and has scored more goals than any Wolfsburg midfielder [18] since he moved there in January 2011. Mancini is crazy about him, but might have to settle for Ezequiel Lavezzi or Erik Lamela, neither of which, let’s be honest, would be bad.

Napoli

Maurizio Sarri presents quite the contrast with his predecessor Rafa Benitez. He doesn’t bang on about the disparity in turnover with Napoli’s rivals, nor does he make any noise about players he would like to sign. “I couldn’t care less about the window,” he said after a 2-1 loss to Sassuolo on Sunday. “Everyone takes refuge in it.”

Napoli have gone to great lengths to complete an incomplete team this summer, but Christian Maggio has never convinced in any position other than as a wing-back, Raul Albiol lost the ball 23 times at the weekend, offering us yet another clue as to why the club has been pursuing Torino centre-back Nikola Maksimovic, who averaged 5.5 tackles and interceptions per game last season.

The midfield looks set but it’s no secret Sarri would like to bring another Empoli player after Elseid Hysaj and Mirko Valdifiori to Napoli and that’s Ricky Saponara to play as a No.10. Saponara combined for 11 goals and assists in 2015, but given some of the team’s best players are its wide players [Dries Mertens, Jose Callejon and Lorenzo Insigne], questions are already being asked about whether Sarri should instead look to use a different system rather than the narrow 4-3-1-2 he is so fond of and work, as he insists he will, with what he’s got.

Which team are best equipped to win Serie A as things stand? Let us know in the comments below