⚽️🇮🇹 Como sign World Cup-winning star
⚽️🇮🇹 Como sign World Cup-winning star
In this week’s Italian soccer digest, we're looking at the latest transfer deals, we're finding out which coach LOVES karaoke, and much more!
✍️ Transfer round-up: Como continue to strengthen with Varane arrival
As the transfer market carousel continues to spin, Serie A newcomers Como may have pulled off one of the biggest coups of the summer by signing French defender Raphaël Varane.
🗣️ Four-time Champions League winner Varane, who arrives on a free transfer from Manchester United, was unveiled in Como on Tuesday. “What convinced me was the overall project,” said the 31-year-old, who cited the influence of coach Cesc Fabregas in his decision to come to Serie A. “My personal ambition was to come here and try a new challenge, to learn from it.”
🐺 Roma has also bolstered its ranks with the arrival of highly-rated Argentine midfielder Matías Soulé from Juventus and the proven prospect of Ukrainian striker Artem Dovbyk from Girona.
✈️ Such was the excitement for Soulé’s arrival in the capital that he was mobbed by 250 fans upon his arrival at Fiumicino airport!
🟣 Midfielder Andrea Colpani has joined Fiorentina on loan from Monza, with an option to buy. La Viola has already brought in striker Moise Kean from Juventus and defender Marin Pongračić from Lecce.
🏴 Torino’s frontline will benefit from the addition of Che Adams, with the Scot signing from Southampton on a three-year deal.
👍 Napoli has been the biggest Serie A spender of the window so far, with a reported €35m ($38m) plus add-ons being sent to Torino in exchange for defender Alessandro Buongiorno.
🆕 Milan has also invested in the center back position, bringing in 23-year-old Serbian Strahinja Pavlovic from Red Bull Salzburg.
🏅 Serie A stars to feature in Olympic Men’s Soccer Final
Spain and France will battle for gold in the men’s soccer final at Paris 2024, with a number of Serie A players in contention for medals.
🇪🇸 Spain, who already tasted victory this summer with their full men’s team at Euro 2024, are captained by Juan Miranda of Bologna. The left-back is joined by midfielder Adrián Bernabé, who plays his club soccer with Parma.
🇲🇦 Miranda’s Bologna teammate Oussama El Azzouzi is also in medal contention, as he is representing Morocco in their bronze medal bout with Egypt (which may be resolved by the time you read this newsletter!).
🇷🇸 Dušan Vlahović, meanwhile, has been getting into the Olympic spirit vicariously with fellow Serbian Novak Djokovic. The Juventus striker joined the tennis legend at a dinner after he won Olympic gold at Roland-Garros.
🇺🇸 Milan enjoy perfect US preseason tour
Milan recorded victories in all three of their preseason matches in the United States as part of the DIRECTV Soccer Champions Tour.
👏 The Rossoneri began their summer US tour with a 3-2 win over reigning Premier League champions Manchester City, before recording a 1-0 victory against Spanish and European champions Real Madrid. Paulo Fonseca’s side finished up the run with a shootout win over Barcelona, after the match finished 2-2 in regulation time.
👍 One cannot read too much into preseason results, but it is a marked improvement for Milan, who did not register a win during their 2023 US tour.
🗣️ During the tour, Rafael Leão praised teammate Christian Pulisic and expressed his hopes for the American to occupy the No.10 role:
“I’m very happy to have him as a team-mate, he’s a player who can change the game in a second […] I’m not a coach, but I prefer Christian when he plays as a number 10. From the center he has the ability to occupy space both on the left and on the right […] As a 10 he would give me some assists, we could play fast, with one-twos or with a touch in the middle of the field… he can do everything.”
🤰 Back at home, Milan has generated a lot of attention and won praise for introducing a maternity policy for its female players and staff, which includes automatic contract renewal and childcare assistance.
🎤 Antonio Conte celebrates birthday with Napoli karaoke night!
Antonio Conte turned 55 last week and marked the occasion by sharing the mic with his Napoli staff and players.
🎂 Birthday boy Conte showed off his singing prowess with a rendition of ‘Tu si a fine do’ munno’ (“You will be at the end of the world”) by Italian pop star Angelo Famao. Here’s how it sounds when not performed by a Napoli coach.
🤯 Napoli’s coaching staff also joined in on the fun, but the show was thoroughly stolen by defender Pasquale Mazzocchi, who showed he is a man of many talents with his impressive version of 'Il letto degli amanti' (“The lovers’ bed“) by Nino D'Angelo.
🎶 It’s common for soccer clubs to bring a sense of camaraderie to the squad by having new recruits sing upon their initiation. Evidently, Conte - who has won four scudetti as a manager with Juventus and Inter - is fostering a winning mentality by adding a karaoke machine to proceedings!
💬 Calcio Conversations
For a country so obsessed with its world-famous cuisine - and rightfully so! - you might be surprised to hear that there is a very negative connotation around a particular type of eating in the world of calcio.
One thing you definitely don’t want to eat is a goal, or ‘Mangiarsi un gol’.
🤷♂️What does it mean? ‘Mangiarsi un gol’ is the expression used when a player misses a huge chance to score. We might say that a player whiffed a chance or missed a sitter, but the food-focused Italians have a more colorful - and memorable - expression!
👕 Parma, Napoli and Juve drop sensational away kits
Is there anything more exciting than kit drops ahead of a new season? As we inch closer towards the 2024-25 campaign, beautiful jerseys are being released all across the league.
🤩 Parma, returning to the top flight after a three-season absence, will look incredible on the road in blue and yellow stripes…
😮 Napoli will look typically stylish in their very clean EA7 Emporio Armani away jersey…
🍋 And Juventus will wear this gorgeous away strip, which may or may not have you reaching for the Limoncello…
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📺 ICYMI: Christian Pulisic on Jimmy Fallon
During Milan’s aforementioned US tour, American star Christian Pulisic was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
🐯 After discussing his soccer journey and his life playing in Milan, the talk turned to celebrations, and Pulisic’s tiger tattoo celebration.
🕺 Fallon then challenged the USMNT star to celebrate a goal with a ‘Three Amigos Salute’.
😂 When the 25-year-old scored against Barcelona on Tuesday night in Baltimore, he celebrated with his traditional Tiger tattoo move, rather than the ‘80s movie homage. But look out for Fallon’s request when the Rossoneri kick off their Serie A season against Torino next weekend! (Saturday August 17th, 2.45pm ET, CBS Sports)
📺 While in New York, Pulisic was joined by Milan Senior Advisor Zlatan Ibrahimovic on CBS Mornings.
⚾️ Zlatan, meanwhile, marked his time in the Big Apple via the honor of throwing out the first (and fairly wild) pitch at a Yankees game…
🩳 Social Post of the Week: Don’t wear Inter shorts around Olivier Giroud
Olivier Giroud may have concluded his successful spell in Serie A, but his Milanese loyalties were clear at a recent event with Inter Milan defender Benjamin Pavard.
🫢 The French World Cup-winning duo were in the French Riviera wearing the colors of the Antibes Sharks basketball team, when former Milan striker Giroud spotted his countryman was preparing to shoot hoops in his Inter shorts. So, the striker naturally covered up the logo!
😂 Let that be a lesson to any LAFC fans who are thinking of wearing Nerazzurri merch in Giroud’s presence…
👋 Grazie e arrivederci!
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