It’s no secret that the Old Lady is planning for revenge in the upcoming 2021/22 Serie A season. After losing it to bitter rivals Inter Milan last term, Juventus have done extensive preparations to make sure that they’ll be the ones standing on top.
There’s one more week before the festivities start. And here at SBOTOP, we expect I Bianconeri to have a redemption year since they’re backed by the Serie A 2021 betting odds to win the Scudetto anew.
However, the other contenders also have plans and they’ve shown glimpses of what they could become during this preseason, as shown in their friendlies against various clubs from Europe.
With the new campaign just around the corner, let’s recap the notable developments this past week as we bring to you the latest Serie A 2021 updates.
Juventus are on the verge of acquiring a new midfielder
It has been a relatively quiet transfer window for Juventus this summer. However, these past few days have been anything but the opposite.
I Bianconeri are still ironing out the terms and conditions for a possible transfer deal involving Sassuolo’s Manuel Locatelli, who has significantly boosted his overall value after playing well for the Italians during Euro 2020.
Sassuolo are reportedly okay to see their star midfielder in a Juventus uniform. And according to reports, they want the latter to pay them at least a €35-M transfer fee plus bonuses.
On the other hand, their talismanic striker Cristiano Ronaldo has been linked to numerous teams lately since his existing deal with the club is set to expire in 2022.
Apparently, despite his prolific scoring output last season, the Turin giants are finding a way to offload Ronaldo because of his large wages as well as his advancing age.
The Euro 2020 Golden Boot winner scored 29 goals in 33 league appearances for I Bianconeri last term. But at the same time, he is approaching 37 years old next February.
Should him and Juventus not work out on a new contract, expect the big-time suitors to come out and offer huge money for his services.
PSG will always be around lurking while Manchester City appears to be a viable destination since they lack a deadeye striker as of the moment.
Or maybe he could go back to where it all began with Manchester United to where he became a global icon after spending six years there.
Inter Milan confirm their newest additions
Romelu Lukaku has officially moved out of Italy to reunite with Chelsea in the Premier League. In turn, Inter Milan have made a couple of additions to try and fill in the void.
The Nerazzurri came out and scooped up Edin Dzeko and Denzel Dumfries via long-term deals that will run through to 2023 and 2025 respectively.
Dzeko last played for AS Roma to where he grabbed 119 goals in 260 games total, and he’s going to be their starting striker in the upcoming season.
Dumfries, meanwhile, adds depth at the wing-back position vacated by Ashley Young and Achraf Hakimi. The 25-year-old starred for Netherlands in Euro 2020, emerging as one of their most important players.
Inter Milan have yet to lose a game since last May and they have an easy five-game stretch to kick off the 2021/22 season.
But by letting go Romelu Lukaku that easily, that’s one less world-class star from their ranks and it would be hard to envision them lifting the Scudetto again anytime soon.
Napoli has a new rising star
Victor Osimhen is making a case as to why he should play more minutes for Napoli since he’s having a spectacular preseason so far.
The Nigerian striker scored eight goals in these last few weeks, scoring four against Anaunia, one versus Pro Vercelli, two against Bayern Munich, and one versus Pescara last Saturday.
Granted, that most of their opponents weren’t exactly at full force, Osimhen is expected to have a bigger role given this recent stretch.
Osimhen has finally acclimated himself with the club after experiencing an underwhelming campaign last year.
The 22-year-old struggled to find his form under then-head coach Gennaro Gattuso as he only scored 10 goals in 27 games in all competitions.
Last summer, Napoli have spent €71-M for the former Lille forward to shore up their attack, but injuries and COVID-19 have derailed his campaign.
Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for Osimhen, who will hope to carry his good form in preseason to the league when they open their campaign versus newly-promoted side Venezia this Sunday evening.
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