Serie A's Transfers Evaluation

This week I'm going to cover some of the moves that lesser-known teams completed this season.

Como's Winger Shopping Spree Continues

First of all, Como continued their wingers-with-take-on-ability haul by snapping up Nicolas Kühn from Celtic for €19 million. Born in 2000, he's the most experienced among the four players I've covered for them so far (Rodriguez, Addai and Baturina), and he's probably the one who will capture the most attention. He should score and assist quite a bit, even after considering a totally fair drop in performance coming from Scotland. Como has practically covered their wingers for 2+ seasons and already has substitutes ready for when one or two of those they bought this summer are sold.

Como then sold Fadera (2001) to Sassuolo on loan with a purchase option at around €10 million. I don't think he's worth that, given he's a winger who didn't shoot a lot, nor with great quality, nor produce a ton of shots for others last season – hitting a big drop-off from his season at Genk.

The Center-Back Carousel

Hellas Verona bagged Unai Núñez from Athletic Bilbao – to replace Ghilardi, I suppose – on loan plus a €5 million purchase option. I'm not impressed, given he'll be 29 in January and he performed worse at Bilbao than in 2023/24 at Celta Vigo, where he wasn't exactly incredible.

Four other center-backs moved:

• Baschirotto went to Cremonese – not interesting

• Walukiewicz went to Sassuolo, but in the last couple of seasons he didn't exactly shine at Empoli or Torino

• Leo Østigård came back to Italy to play for Genoa. He has talent but doesn't seem to convince anyone, as he's quite inconsistent and allows opponents to rack up way too much value in his zone

• Parma brought in the French 2002 Ndiaye, and I'm unconvinced given he was paid €8 million plus a % of the future sale, but he's a project, of course

Relegated Team Talents Find New Homes

Lorenzo Colombo went to Genoa, Saba Goglichidze went to Udinese, and Sebastiano Esposito went to Cagliari. They're some of the remaining interesting players who played for relegated teams last year.

Also, Zerbin finished his loan from Venezia and was loaned to Cremonese. Seems pretty good for him to keep the playing time up and maybe replicate this type of performance.

Bologna's Puzzling Free Agent

Bernardeschi was brought in by Bologna on a free. This is their second purchase I'm not convinced by, but he presses and sets up chances 🤷‍♂️

Midfield Movements

Fiorentina brought in Sohm from Parma for around €16 million. Born in 2001, he's well-rounded, and I expect him to be very solid again with better teammates, but the price tag could prove a little high.

In other midfielders news, Sassuolo purchased Ismaël Koné from Marseille for around €12.5 million + %. He didn't play much at Marseille, but at Watford he was very good at defending and resisting the press.

Bargain Hunting Done Right

Lecce decided to pull the trigger for less than €1 million on the peak-age (1999) wingback Corrie Ndaba. He clearly has some qualities, and it will be interesting to see how he'll do in Italy given he improved a lot from his 2023/24.

The Steal of the Window?

Last, but certainly not least, Cagliari brought in Semih Kılıçsoy from Beşiktaş for €1 million loan, €12 million to complete the purchase. Look, he's done this for two seasons straight, and he’s born in 2005. I don't even understand why he was sold or why I never heard of him before. I just hope he crushes it in Serie A.