untitled-design-2024-01-05t193011-553.png
Getty Images

The January transfer window has officially started in Italy and the Serie A teams are already working to sign (and sell) players. However, as it often happens around the league, there is a limited budget even for the top clubs in the winter session due to financial reasons and it's unlikely we'll see big moves in this transfer session, but most of the top clubs need to do some changes and will need to find some solutions, even with a short extra budget. On top of that, starting from January 1 2024, Italian clubs can't take advantage of the so-called Decreto Crescita that helped them a lot in the past years and transfer windows. So, let's start there.

What is the Decreto Crescita?

The Decreto Crescita is a tax law that the Italian Senate voted back in 2019. It didn't originally have anything to do with sports, but wanted to reverse the trend of Italians moving abroad and negatively impacting the Italian economy. The law provided a five-year tax break to skilled workers who moved back to Italy, whether they were Italians returning from abroad or purely people moving to the country for different reasons. The idea was to incentivise workers to move to Italy and also to create new jobs around the country. 

The part that applies to soccer is the fifth Article of the law, which allows players and coaches who haven't worked in Italy for the previous two years, whether Italians or not, to pay taxes on just 50% of their incomes rather than the usual 100%. With top tier players qualifying for the highest tax rate of 43% percent, there were enormous financial benefits for both players and clubs. The current government have recently decided to not extend the five-year period, and for this reason the Decreto Crescita won't help Italian clubs to sign players (and coaches) from abroad anymore. The government decided not to extend the law despite the objections coming from the league and the clubs in general, who claimed that the success of Italian soccer of the past years was also a consequence of the help coming from the government and this particular tax law. Without that, Italian clubs will now have to find new ideas and solutions for their transfer business. 

Let's now take a look at the big clubs and what they have to do this month.

Inter have already signed who they needed

The Serie A leaders, Inter, already signed the player they needed. The Nerazzurri just signed Canadian winger and former New England Revolution attacker Tajon Buchanan from Club Brugge for a €7 million fee, plus add-ons. Inter needed to sign a player in that role after the injury of former Juventus winger Juan Cuadrado, who will miss at least three months, leaving Denzel Dumfries as the only right sided winger in the squad. It's likely that Buchanan will be the only signing of the Serie A leaders this month, despite increasing rumors of a potential new striker. If Inter keep the current roster until the end of the season, with only the addition of Buchanan after the injury to Cuadrado, that would also leave them likely to lose Cuadrado at the end of his contract in the summer. Talking about contracts, Inter have already officially extended the deals of Federico Dimarco (2027), Matteo Darmian (2025), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (2026) and started talks with captain Lautaro Martinez to sign a new long term deal, with the current one expiring in the summer 2026. 

Juventus looking for a midfielder 

Juventus have to sign a midfielder, after both Nicolò Fagioli (betting scandal) and Paul Pogba (doping) were suspended and will miss the rest of the season. However, the Bianconeri can't sign players before selling others due to financial reasons, and that's the challenge for sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli. The Italian giants will try to sell or loan out younger players such as Samuel Iling-Junior or Kenan Yildiz, but the idea would be to keep them for the long term. This is why talks for players such as Kalvin Phillips or Pierre-Emile Højbjerg still haven'tt accelerated and are stalling. Giuntoli's mission is to find the right midfielder for coach Massimiliano Allegri to give him more ability to rotate and compete in the Serie A Scudetto race until the very end. Not an easy job, considering the financial issues of the club for this transfer window. At the same time, it's more likely to see a revolution in the summer, especially if the Bianconeri maange to qualify for the next UEFA Champions League. 

AC Milan to make some changes

AC Milan are expected to do some business this January, after a disappointing start of the season with many injured players. This is why the Rossoneri are expected to make another signing in defense, after interrupting the season-long loan of Matteo Gabbia to Villarreal, who has already returned to Milan. The Italian club will likely also sign a new striker, despite the good recent performances of Luka Jovic, who scored a brace in the last Coppa Italia game against Cagliari.  

The Napoli revolution has already started

Napoli are also expected to do a little makeover this winter, after the owner of the club Aurelio De Laurentiis announced some changes in the current transfer window. The Azzurri already signed Pasquale Mazzocchi from Salernitana for €3 million, and will likely also sign midfielder Lazar Samardzic from Udinese in the coming days. Napoli will also likely sign a center-back after they failed to fully replace Kim Min-Jae, who left to join Bayern Munich last summer after he was named as best defender of the league during the 2022-23 season. The Azzurri might also sign a defensive midfielder, as they need one more player in that position as Elif Elmas left the club to join RB Leipzig at the end of December for around €25 million. The club's star striker Victor Osimhen will likely stay during this window, especially after he just extended his deal with Napoli until the summer 2026, while striker Giovanni Simone might leave in the last days of the transfer session, as he seeks for more game time. 

AS Roma part company with GM Tiago Pinto

AS Roma announced that the current General Manager Tiago Pinto will leave the club at the end of the transfer window after over three years working at the Italian club. The Portuguese executive will try to find a new center back for Jose Mourinho, who, himself, will soon start to discuss his future with ownership, as his current deal is expiring in the summer 2024 and as of now there are no updates about his future at the club.