Amidst the hoopla of Napoli spending piles of money on Gonzalo Higuain to replace Edinson Cavani, it is the Partenopei who have been hyped to challenge Juventus for the 2013-14 Serie A scudetto.
However, let us not discount Milan as title challengers.
The Rossoneri have been quiet during this summer transfer season, having only wrapped up one deal of significance: midfielder Andrea Poli from Sampdoria. Poli has long been considered one of Italy’s top midfield prospects, and now at the age of 24 he should be ready to take his game to the next level with Milan.
However, to suggest Milan is done its shopping spree at this stage of the summer would be foolish. It would also be foolish to suggest Milan is in need of much help to contend for this season’s scudetto.
Consistency year over year is a big part of building a contender, and Milan has that coming into this campaign. The great roster purge of overpaid, aging players is now a full year behind them, and the rebuild was sped up with the purchase of Mario Balotelli in January. Young stars such as Stephen El Shaarawy and Mattia De Sciglio have burst onto the scene, and are already well on their way to becoming world class players.
The return of Nigel De Jong from a season-long injury also offers promise, as he will be expected to combine with Poli to offer a plethora of options to manager Max Allegri.
That’s not to say there aren’t holes to plug. Milan’s big need is in defence, although we shouldn’t be too quick to write off the likes of Phillipe Mexes and Cristian Zapata. After a troubling first half of 2012-13 which saw Milan record only three clean sheets, the duo found their form over the second half of the campaign and helped the Rossoneri earn nine clean sheets.
It should also be mentioned that Milan was the best team in Serie A from Week 19 onwards, as they collected 42 points – two more than champions Juventus.
Is Milan a sure bet for a title run? No. However, I would bet my money on them rather than Napoli.
What Napoli has done this off-season is all very promising, and is a tremendous signal of intent. But there’s been a great amount of turnover in the squad, and with a new manger in place in Rafa Benitez, it will take time to get everyone on the same page.
The sale of Cavani should be looked at as a chance to take this squad to another level, and while Napoli is trying to do that with big-name purchases in Higuain, I believe they are going about the situation all wrong.
When Juventus sold Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee in 2001, they re-invested that money by buying Gianluigi Buffon, Lillian Thuram, and Pavel Nedved. All three turned out to be stars and key contributors for Juventus, leading the Turin-based club to consecutive league titles.
The thing with those players, though, was that they all came from other Serie A teams: Buffon and Thuram from Parma, while Nedved came over from Lazio. I find it hard to believe Napoli will be able to hit the ground running with so many new players coming over from other leagues.
Napoli may have the talent, but Milan has the experience of not only competing but winning in Serie A. It’s why Milan should not be overlooked as the top contender to challenge Juventus for the Serie A crown.
Dan Riccio is the host of the European Football Weekly podcast on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. Listen to the podcast HERE and follow Dan on Twitter.