Top 10 most expensive Serie A summer 2019 transfers

Italian Serie A league is currently the fourth most popular football league in the world right now.

Serie A clubs have been lavishly spending the past years, and the 2019 summer transfer window did not see much change to that trend.

It has been two weeks since the summer transfer window closed. While for some, it is enough time to see if any new arrival has delivered, there are still many others who have yet to get on the pitch and prove their high price-tag.

We present the Top 10 most expensive Serie A summer 2019 transfers.

10. Theo Hernandez – €20 million (AC Milan)

After holding talks with AC Milan legend and director Paolo Maldini, Theo Hernandez agreed to joined Serie A club AC Milan in a deal worth €20 million, becoming the first signing officially announced by the club.

After an encouraging start to preseason action, the Frenchman then suffered an ankle problem during the International Champions Cup game against Bayern Munich. That injury has kept him out of the first two rounds of the season so far, but the player looks eager to prepay the faith in him once he returns.

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9. Amadou Diawara – €21 million (Roma)

Amadou Diawara became Roma’s second signing of the summer, when switched from Napoli for a fee of €21 million. In his first season in Serie A, Diawara won the ball back 258 times in total – sixth among all players in Serie A. He also intercepted 91 passes, fourth in the league for that statistic.

The shining jewel of Diawara’s game is his passing ability. He had a 92% average passing accuracy in the 2018/2019 season, and passing maps show that he was expected to make every kind of pass known to man while on the field for Napoli. He will surely come good to Roma.

8. Luca Pellegrini – €22 million (Juventus)

Commanding a substantial €22 million fee, many eyebrows was raised when Juventus decided to splash the cash on the 20-year-old Luca Pellegrini. Last season was his first campaign in the Italian top-flight, and he was limited to just 16 games. Only four of those came for Roma, who decided to send him out on loan to Cagliari in January.

Pellegrini impressed in Sardinia, making a positive impact in his 12 games for the bottom side. Clearly, he did enough to catch the eye of Juventus. However, shortly after securing his signature, they shipped him out on loan again, back to Cagliari. His present may not say Juventus, but his future surely might.

7. Pau Lopez – €23.5 million (Roma)

Roma have been pretty desperate to find a real replacement for Alisson, giving chances to players like Robin Olsen and Antonio Mirante.

In July, Pau Lopez left Real Betis to join Roma in a reported €23.5 million deal. He went on to make 33 league appearances for the club during the season, keeping 10 clean sheets and conceding 47 goals. It is yet to be seen whether he will turn out to be a decent goalkeeper, or another failure in front of the goal-line.

6. Rafael Leao – €25 million (AC Milan)

This summer, AC Milan concluded the signing of promising Portuguese and Lille centre-forward Rafael Leao for a sum of €25 million. The deal was first though to be worth around €35 million. Lille signed Leao for free in the summer of 2018. He was far from an established first-team regular at Sporting before he came to France. He had appeared in 18 games for the Sporting B side in all competitions, scoring 12 times.

He then had a breakout season with Lille where he scored eight times and assisted thrice to pull Les Dogues to an impressive second place finish in the Ligue 1. The Portuguese will slip into a similar role at AC Milan where the core of his responsibility will be to open up space for Krzystof Piatek, provide an option in the box and put goals in the back of the net. He is a very exciting prospect at just 20 and fits into a role that has been perfectly molded for him.

5. Leonardo Spinazzola – €29.5 million (Roma)

Leonardo Spinazzola joined Roma from Juventus for €29.5 million, signing a four-year contract with the club, while Luca Pellegrini moved in the opposite direction.

The 26-year-old signed contract in Rome and is expected to act as Aleksandar Kolarov’s successor at left-back, although he can also offer cover for the wingers in their attack. In August, however, the former Atalanta and Juventus man was diagnosed with a left femoral bicep problem following a training session. He is yet to feature for the Roman side.

4. Kostas Manolas – €36 million (Napoli)

Kostas Manolas joined Napoli from Roma in a deal worth €36 million, with midfielder Amadou Diawara moving in the opposite direction. He was probably the best individual defender for years at Roma. Manolas has used his experience to tackle less over the years, and intercept the ball more.

With Napoli, Manolas needs the confidence back, he needs more than just being a fast defender in a high line defence. What lies in wait for Napoli fans is a mouthwatering defensive partnership of Manolas and Kalidou Koulibaly, two of the division’s most highly rated centre-backs. I Partenopei, as well as manager Carlo Ancelotti, will hope the duo can help bridge the gap to Juventus, who won an astounding eighth consecutive Scudetto last season.

3. Hirving Lozano – €42 million (Napoli)

After long talks, Lozano officially joined Napoli. He reportedly signed a five-year contract with a transfer fee of €42 million, making him Napoli’s most expensive signing, as well as the highest transfer fee paid for a Mexican player, and the largest fee received by PSV Eindhoven for a player.

Eight days later, Lozano made his Serie A debut as a second-half substitute against Juventus in Turin, scoring his side’s second goal in a 4-3 defeat. In both 2017-18 and 2018-19, the winger netted 17 goals and provided eight assists in the league, and he won an Eredivisie title in his debut campaign at PSV. He should add more goals to Ancelotti’s squad and also has the potential to form dangerous partnerships with the likes of Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne and Arkadiusz Milik.

2. Romelu Lukaku – €80 million (Inter Milan)

After a disappointing last season at Manchester United, Lukaku joined Inter Milan, signing a five-year contract for a fee reported to be a club record €80 million. The Belgian has not failed to deliver so far, as he notched two goals in his three Serie A games for Antonio Conte’s side, despite being racially abused by a group of Cagliari fans during his debut.

Inter Milan will be hoping he teams up well with former United colleague Alexis Sanches, with many tipping the Nerazzurri to challenge Juventus for the Italian top flight title.

1. Matthijs de Ligt – €85.5. million (Juventus)

After an impressive 2018/2019 season with Ajax, where he was the one who denied Juventus the Champions League semi-final, Matthijs de Ligt signed for the Serie A champions on a five-year contract for a fee of €75 million, to be paid in five annual installments, with additional costs of €10.5 million. As a result, the accumulated transfer fee stands at €85.5. million.

Last spring, the 20-year-old central defender and young teammates Frenkie De Jong and Donny van de Beek dazzled Europe as they led Ajax to the semi-finals of the Champions League. However, he hasn’t enjoyed a comfortable start to his Juventus career and he still doesn’t look to be at his best. It is awful to see because he was the fearless leader and an absolute rock last season but he just looks completely out of his depth so far.

Juventus will be hoping that he eventually returns to his feet, as they have already lost veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini with a long-term injury and since the competition this season is much stiffer, they will have to protect their Scudetto favorites status.