The less said about Thiago Motta’s spending spree during the 2024 summer the best, although Juve have cut their losses over midfield flop Douglas Luiz.
Although Napoli pipped Inter Milan to the Scudetto last season, the pair of highfliers did not feel the need to dip too much into the winter transfer market, spending very little compared to Juventus.
Juve still had Motta at the helm. One of his policies appeared to be not losing games rather than winning them, which is not part of the Juventus winning mentality DNA.
He also seemed to believe that money could buy success. This was proved by former Bianconeri boss Antonio Conte only tweaking his Napoli squad last winter, which resulted in edging past Simone Inzaghi's Inter during the final few weeks of the thrilling Serie A finale.
Juve were reckless with their transfer approach under Motta. He was almost dismissive of a plethora of players, who have since proved him wrong to let them leave.
Defender Dean Huijsen is the most high-profile example of Motta’s mistakes, with the Juventus Next Gen standout having been sold to AFC Bournemouth on the cheap and now plying his trade for Real Madrid. He has been nominated for the Kopa Trophy Ballon d’Or award.
The Spanish star outwitted his former Juve team-mates at the FIFA Club World Cup, and will get his chance to repeat the performance when the Bianconeri tackle Real in next month’s Champions League clash.
Tudor's cull of club-produced stars
Igor Tudor has also been permitted to sell Juventus Next Gen graduates, with Samuel Mbangula and Nicolo Savona moved on to the German Bundesliga and Premier League respectively for low transfer fees.
Although Juventus claimed that they were cash-strapped this summer, they still managed to invest a whopping €137.3m (US$160m) in bringing players to Turin.
The deadline day arrivals of striker Lois Openda, after the Kolo Muani loan deal fell through, and whizzy winger Edon Zhegrova pushed Juve to the second highest spenders in Serie A over the summer.
Allegri failed to attract ex-players
AC Milan ended up as the Italian top tier’s most lavish side, splashing a staggering €164m (US$191.1m). Yet surprisingly no Juve players followed their former manager Max Allegri to the San Siro.
There was relentless speculation that hot-shot striker Dusan Vlahovic would sign for Milan, but they could not get anywhere near his steep salary demands and Juventus were reluctant to sell the Serbia star to a rival club.
Atalanta, Juventus, Milan and Napoli were the only clubs to spend more than Como during the recent summer transfer window, which closed on 1 September.
Cash-rich Como have a shot
Como, coached by part owner Cesc Fabregas, are financed by majority owners Robert Budi Hartono and Michael Hartono. The billionaire brothers own the Djarum Group, which bought the club in 2019.
Fabregas bolstered his squad during the winter to the tune of €49.2m (US$57.3m) and spent €107.4m (US$125.2m) this summer. Although they finished 10th last season, on their return to Serie A after a 21-year hiatus, they are ambitiously gunning for top four finish this term.
The usual suspects in the mix to fill the top half of the table could see Lazio in trouble, despite having former Juve manager Maurizio Sarri at the helm.
Lazio signed Juve's Rovella
The Biancocelesti’s transfer embargo meant no new signings, just loan moves made permanent, which included €17m (US$19.8m) on defensive midfielder Nicolo Rovella from Juventus.
Newly-promoted US Cremonese, who have bagged back-to-back wins to sit in third place behind joint Serie A leaders Juventus and Napoli, have only spent €14.7m this summer.
They have landed veteran former England marksman Jamie Vardy, who was known at his peak as the fox in the box. If they can finish in the upper half of the Italian top flight that will be an achievement, because they were among the favorites to be relegated by bookmakers.
Serie A summer transfers
1. AC Milan | €164m (winter transfers €48.5m)
2. Juventus | €137.3m (€25.2m)
3. Atalanta | €125.8m (€11m)
4. Napoli | €115m (€2m)
5. Como | €107.4m (€49.2m)
6. Inter Milan | €92.7m (€0.6m)
7. Fiorentina | €90.9m (€13.5m)
8. AS Roma | €63.6m (€14.3m)
9. Bologna | €51m (€0.6m)
10. Parma | €39.2m (€16.5m)
11. Cagliari | €37.3m (€0m)
12. Udinese | €34.5m (€0m)
13. Lazio | €29.9m (€14m)
14. Torino | €19.6m (€13.2m)
15. Sassuolo | €18.7m (N/A)
16. Hellas Verona | €16.6m (€1.4m)
17. US Lecce | €15.9m (€3.7m)
18. US Cremonese | €14.7mm (N/A)
19. Pisa SC | €11.4m (N/A)
20. Genoa | €0m (€6.2m)
Figures via Transfermarkt