For some Inter Milan fans, the heartbreak from last season is still raw. Having lost out on a 21st Serie A title on the final day of the season to Napoli, Inter’s heartbreak was then compounded just a few weeks later as the team were blown away by PSG in the Champions League Final.
Since that tough night in Munich, the changes have been plentiful. Simone Inzaghi has left for the riches of Saudi Arabia and there have been plenty of arrivals and departures.
Whilst the loss of Inzaghi could prove to be huge, new boss Christian Chivu knows the club well. Despite a poor showing at the Club World Cup, he will want to put his own stamp on the team ahead of the new season starting in August.
With Serie A looking like being incredibly competitive next season, let’s look at their chances of ending top of the pile.
Serie A contenders – Inter Milan
When it comes to the odds from legal betting sites, Inter are widely viewed as the second favourites. Trailing defending champions Napoli, the betting would suggest that Inter have some work to do if they are to stop Napoli repeating as champions.
In recent seasons, Inter has been successful in the transfer market and fans will be happy with the speed which the board has worked through the early parts of the summer window.
With the team needing an injection of fresh legs and quality, the signings of Luis Henrique from Marseille, Ange-Yoan Bonny from Parma and Petar Sucic all look like they tick the right boxes.
The other boost that Inter has received is their relatively gentle start to the new season. With the pressure on Chivu to hit the ground running, the team opens with home matches against Torino and Udinese.
The team’s first away game of the season will see them travel to rivals Juventus, but matches against Sassuolo, Cagliari and Cremonese should all be winnable.
There’s no reason to suggest that Inter shouldn’t be right up at the top of the table through the early parts of the season, where they can then apply pressure on their rivals.
Napoli
Last season’s title-winning team in Napoli has already gone down in history and Antonio Conte’s men will have high hopes of retaining their crown this season.
One could argue that Napoli has already made their biggest signing of the season with Conte looking like he will hang around Naples for a second season.
Despite his constant pressures on the board to spend and invest, the board has responded and has given Conte one of the best midfielders in Europe in the shape of Kevin De Bruyne.
The all-Belgian link-up between De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku is exciting. Combine that with the talents of Scott McTominay and Napoli certainly don’t look short of firepower.
Despite Lukaku’s exploits last season, Conte has another striker high on his hit list, and there are rumours that he might try and end Darwin Nunez’s tough time at Liverpool.
Where Inter will be hopeful is that this season, Napoli will have the distraction of European football.
With Conte placing a huge demand on his squad, it will be interesting to see how he juggles his squad in both the Champions League and Serie A.
Juventus
Remarkably, it has been five years since Juventus last tasted Serie A success. Hence, those in Turin will be desperate that Igor Tudor can guide the Old Lady back to the summit of Italian football.
Whereas both Inter and Napoli have been efficient in the transfer market in recent years, Juventus haven’t been as successful and through the summer transfer window, it looks like they are trying to offload several players.
Timothy Weah, Weston McKennie, Douglas Luiz and Dusan Vlahovic have all been reportedly told that they can find new clubs this season, with there even being talks that the club is trying to reach an agreement with Vlahovic to end his contract early.
With the team needing a reset, there are several high-profile names that linked to the club.
Jadon Sancho looks to be a primary target, whilst Tudor is reportedly looking at Ederson from Atalanta and Renato Veiga from Chelsea to provide fresh legs in the heart of his midfield.
You can never discount Juventus from any title race. The club knows what it takes to win, and they will be doing all they can to provide Tudor with the tools to succeed.
However, in the betting, they trail both Napoli and Inter by some margin and look like they will need their main rivals to falter if they are to end the year with a 37th Serie A title.
Napoli
Jube
Roma
Milan
Are gonna fight for top 4 with us. And with a rookie manager I don’t think we can ask to win the league. 4th place is a must but it will be tough
It’s a dream to win Scudetto but at least Napoli are stronger. Top four is target.
While I’m certainly not doom and gloom like many on here, I do think we need to be realistic this season, and acknowledge that this is Chivus first full season of top flight management, so to expecting him to win the Scudetto is asking a bit much… If he does, then fantastic- we may well have found our very own Pep, but top 4 and a good run in the Champions league (1/4 finals at least) would be a more realistic target… What I want more than anything this season is a changing of the old guard, and a team that is looking towards the future, with younger players getting serious game time!
Not a chance in hell…
Squad is getting older, worse in quality,
Recruitment is poor.
Napoli are a clear step ahead And other teams are spending more and improving their teams,
It’s a sorry situation considering how much prize money and trophies we have from the last 4 years that we have allowed this to happen.
I’ve always sung marottas praises but I can’t help but feel his change in role has hindered the club.
We are in a clear decline, wasted 2 obvious chances to add league titles.
I am so disappointed in my beautiful club having players the level of asllani & bisseck as starters is just an absolute shambles.
And anyone who sees this team, the way we’ve played since March, the recruitment done and either predicts a title challenge or writes an article on it being possible is deluded.
it was very obvious from the beginning of last season that the team needed new recruits and some time off because of all the international tournaments. yet no one even tried to acknowledge that.
even more obvious during the winter transfer window and after the performances of the supercoppa final, yet nothing was dome to correct that. they just kept pushing the same players, no wonder why they are fed up with the management.
still to this day, they are yet to correct the mistakes and it’s all pointing to the decline of what once was and what once could have been!!
Yes. Next question 🙂