With the first game of the new Serie A season approaching quickly, GIFN’s Jurre van Wanrooij looks at five signings to watch out for in the 2023/24 season.
M’Bala Nzola (Fiorentina)
27-year-old striker M’Bala Nzola managed to score 13 goals for a relegated Spezia side, so it’s only exciting to imagine what he could do for Fiorentina. His goal tally might not be the only reason why La Viola were interested in his services. Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Italiano already knew Nzola from their shared time at both Trapani and Spezia, so Italiano probably saw the Spezia relegation as the perfect opportunity to swoop in for the striker.
The Tuscan club only paid €10 million to secure Nzola’ signature, and that was not the first piece of excellent business by Fiorentina this summer. Nzola will get plenty of gametime at La Viola, since they sold Arthur Cabral to Benfica and are playing Conference League this season, if they manage to beat Rapid Wien over two legs.
Nicolò Rovella (Lazio)
Lazio were in desparate need of a new name in midfield, with talisman Sergej Milinković-Savić departing to Saudi Arabia. Nicolò Rovella impressed on loan at Monza last season, managing 28 league games in total. Many saw Rovella as an important addition to Juventus’ midfield, but the Bianconeri needed to raise cash and decided to let Rovella go. The young midfielder seems like the perfect player for Lazio manager Maurizio Sarri’s playstyle, with his excellent ball distribution for example. Rovella will also play Champions League football with the Biancocelesti.
The capital club have managed an amazing deal to sign 21-year-old Nicolò Rovella from Juventus. The Biancocelesti will loan him for two years and have an obligation to buy – if certain sporting objectives are reached – set at €17 million.
Yunus Musah (Milan)
Milan have done an excellent job in reinvesting the money earned with Sandro Tonali’s departure this summer. Many of their new signings could be included in this list, but I’ve decided to go with 20-year-old Yunus Musah. The young American has already over 100 senior appearances under his belt and even played 4 games at the World Cup. Musah seems incredibly mature for his age and is an exciting profile to add to the Milan midfield. It’ll be interesting to see how Milan manager Stefano Pioli will utilise the American.
The Rossoneri paid €20 million to Valencia for Musah, who can also play as a right midfielder.
Mateo Retegui (Genoa)
The 24-year-old striker already wins the prize for the best nickname in Serie A: Retegol. Ever since his suprise call-up to the National Team, Mateo Retegui was destined to join an Italian team sooner or later. His goals against England and Malta in the EURO 2024 qualifiers definetly helped with that. Retegui also managed to score 11 goals for Tigre in the Argentinian Superliga last. Genoa were convinced and signed Retegui as their new leader in attack on their Serie A return. They paid
Retegui showed that he needed no time to adapt in Liguria, as he found the net in the first minute of Genoa’s Coppa Italia game against Modena. He managed to score again in the second half and Genoa would go on to win the match 4-3. Let’s see if Retegui can replicate his brace in his first game in the Italian top flight.
As a bonus, go check out Genoa’s awesome announcement video involving Retegui, where they depicted him as a King (Re in Italian).
Natan (Napoli)
While Napoli have managed to hold on to most of their Scudetto winning stars, Min-jae Kim left the Partenopei after only one season to join Bayern Munich. Finding a replacement for Kim was never going to be an easy job, but Napoli have chosen to go for an unknown name. 22-year-old Natan was signed from Red Bull Bragantino in the Brazilian League, where he played over 100 games. Napoli only paid €10 million for the Brazilian centre-back, which is a relatively small figure in today’s transfer market.
However, is he good enough to replace Kim? No one seems to know for sure, but Napoli have managed to find multiple gems over the years, and Natan could be the next addition to that list. First, he’ll likely have to win the battle against Leo Østigård and Juan Jesus for the spot alongside Amir Rrahmani in defence.
Jurre van Wanrooij | GIFN
