Inter to Retain Title? Motta to Revamp Juventus and Conte’s Redemption: Predictions for the Serie A Season 2024/25

Inter Milan once again rose to the pinnacle of Italian football last season by winning the Scudetto after a two-year wait. Simone Inzaghi’s men showed relentless hunger from the first day of the season to the last to re-establish their dominance in Serie A.

After a ruthless 2023-24 season, Inter will again be considered as the favorites to lift their 21st Serie A title. Players like Lautaro Martinez and Nicolò Barella are in the form of their lives and much will depend on those two if Inter want to retain the Scudetto.

One of the key points of concern for Inzaghi’s team would be their aging backline. Matteo Darmian (34), Francesco Acerbi (36), and Stefan de Vrij (32) are all in the latter stages of their careers and Inzaghi will be looking to bring in some fresh faces before the end of the summer transfer window.

Inter have been in contact with center-backs Min-Jae Kim of Bayern Munich and Alessandro Buongiorno of Napoli and they would be looking to make one of those deals done before the end of the summer transfer window. Inter have also been linked for a long time with Atletico Madrid’s Rodrigo De Paul. His versatility and durability make him an ideal replacement for Hakan Çalhanoğlu if the Turkish midfielder ends up leaving this summer.

Given that the rival clubs have changed managers in the summer, Inter will enter the 2024-25 edition of Serie A as the most stable side and will be tipped to retain the Scudetto this season.

Are Juventus back on track?

The 36-time Serie A winners Juventus have faced challenges and setbacks in recent seasons. They were affected with charges of ‘financial irregularities’ and ‘false accounting’ in transfer dealings leading to a 15-point deduction in January 2023. Failure to bring good players to the club and the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo further added to their struggles in the past seasons. Last season they finished third in Serie A, 23 points behind champions Inter Milan.

The Old Lady have now hired Thiago Motta as their new head coach. The 41-year-old led Bologna to Champions League football for the first time since 1964 winning 18 of his 37 league matches and also helped Spezia to avoid relegation in the 2021-22 season.

Motta’s tactics are somewhat different from the outgoing manager Massimiliano Allegri with emphasis given on the possessional play. At Bologna, he demanded a compact backline to limit the opponents’ spaces and motivated his players to press the opponents when not in possession. His tactics earned him a big name in Italian football and it remains to be seen whether he can stamp his authority at a much bigger club like Juventus.

The arrival of Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa and Khéphren Thuram from OGC Nice will help to rejuvenate Juventus as they look to return to the summit of Italian football this season.

Conte’s ambitions with Napoli

Napoli won their first Scudetto in 33 years in 2022-23 but had a miserable time trying to defend that title last season. They finished a lowly tenth in the league which led to the sacking of manager Walter Mazzarri after just three months in charge. They then signed a short-term deal with Slovakian boss Francesco Calzona until the end of the season.

Napoli confirmed the arrival of Antonio Conte a couple of months ago on a three-year deal. Conte is no stranger to Italian football having lifted the Scudetto thrice with Juventus (2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14) and once with Inter Milan (2020-21).

Napoli’s failure to qualify for European football this season may prove to be a blessing in disguise as they can fully focus on the domestic league and try to replicate the heroics of the 2022-23 season.

Gli Azzurri have been quietly going about their business this summer and have added Alessandro Buongiorno (CB), Rafa Marín (CB), Leonardo Spinazzola (LB), and Matija Popovic (AMF) to their squad and Conte would be looking to find the right balance in his side to challenge for Serie A title yet again.

Paolo Fonseca’s expectations at AC Milan

AC Milan parted ways with Stefano Piolo after 5 long years following a second-place finish in Serie A last season. Milan have now appointed former AS Roma coach Paolo Fonseca as the head coach in their bid to dethrone their city rivals Inter from the Serie A summit.

Fonseca made a name for himself in Italian football during his 2-year stint with AS Roma. Despite failure to win a trophy, the Portuguese bosted an impressive win average of 52% in his 102 games in charge in Italy.

He then made a move to France and became the head coach of Lille. In his 90 games in charge in all competitions, he won 47 with a win percentage of 52.22%.

Fonseca has wasted no time in strengthening his squad and attracted players like Álvaro Morata, Álex Jiménez, and Strahinja Pavlović to Milan. He reportedly wants to push for a move for Tottenham right-back Emerson Royal before the transfer window shuts and intends to field a ‘super attacking’ team in the coming Serie A season.

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