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Aiming high!
It has been 7 years since those dark days of toil and turmoil in the Italian federation. Rot and decay in the form of corruption had settled into the system, and it seemed only a matter of time till it ate Italian football from the inside out.
It is for this reason, more than anything else, the renaissance of Italian football has been all the more astonishing.
In the current season, AS Roma sit pretty atop the table, followed by Napoli, Juventus, Inter Milan and Fiorentina. Reigning champions Juventus look to have a battle on their hands, if they are to crown themselves champions again. This is a far cry from last season, when a Juventus side who lacked any genuine firepower up-front still strolled to the league title.
The Serie A has become even more interesting than the Spanish La Liga, which is itself stagnating in the Madrid-Barcelona duopoly. This itself would come as a shock to many, given how poorly the Serie A has fared in recent times.
Roma have looked fearsome, having won all their games. They have made some very good signings in Kevin Strootman, Adem Ljaji?, Gervinho, Mattia Destro, while getting in some much-needed cash inflow through the sales of Maquinhos to PSG for €32 million, Erik Lamela to Tottenham in a deal that could rise to £30 million and Pablo Daniel Osvaldo to Southampton for £13 million, among others. They have scored 17 goals in 6 games in the league, while having conceded only 1.
Napoli are close behind on 16 points, just two behind Roma’s 18 points. They have secured the services of Gonzalo Higuain and Raul Albiol from Real Madrid for a reported combined £50 million, and the talented Dries Mertens from PSV Eindhoven for just under €10 million. Rafael Benitez seems to be going about his new job merrily, as they have found a more-than-satisfactory replacement for Edinson Cavani who left for PSG for a reported €64 million, in the prolific Higuain.
Walter Mazzarri’s arrival at Inter Milan seems to be invigorating the former champions, as they look to be firmly back on the road to recovery, after a few years of mediocrity. They sit 4th in the table, just behind current Champions Juventus.
However, the greatest sign of recovery for the Italian football scene is the fact that more and more talents are opting for Italy once again. Highly rated youngster such as Paul Pogba, Luis Muriel, Adem Ljaji? have opted for the Serie A, while Italian talents such as Stephen El Shaarawy, Mattia de Sciglio, Mattia Destro, Lorenzo Insigne have opted to stay in the Serie A, despite heavy interest from abroad, namely England and Spain.
The only piece missing from the puzzle, so to speak, is how AC Milan are faring. Milan, once the hub of the footballing world, now find themselves slipping closer to the precipice of the chasm that is ignominy. Their financial malaise has seen them forced to sell their best players every season, and this has had an adverse effect on their ability to challenge for titles.
To sum it off though, after years in the shade, it seems that Italian football, and especially the Serie A, will get their chance again to stand in the sun.
