Europe flees, Italy remains to watch. Even in football, unfortunately, there are those who run faster than us; it's nothing new but perhaps this year, with the World Cup just concluded, it's even more evident than usual. Four years have passed since our last European triumph (Inter 4), 2010 since an all-Italian final (Milan-Juventus 11 in Manchester), even 2003 since our last success in a cup other than the Champions League (Uefa Cup, Parma 15): in short, Italian football entered the tunnel for many years, well before the global economic crisis, and the way out seems only a chimera. The problem is not only economic (Benfica, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, just to mention three teams that have lifted or nearly won a cup, bill less than the top Italian clubs) but certainly money is the primary cause. In fact, the figures are merciless: the Premier League and Liga have spent, respectively, 1999 and 436 million, Serie A "only" 315. At the moment, our championship is ahead of Ligue 198 and the Bundesliga but only because PSG, Monaco and Bayern Munich have to yet to land the biggest hits. In short, if the good morning starts in the morning, the Italian one will be a little trip rather than a European ride. We don't want Juventus, Rome and Naples (which in any case will have to make the preliminary round first), rightly eager to make a good impression, but how can we counter the overwhelming power of the English, Spanish, German and French big names? The most expensive acquisition in Serie A is Juan Manuel Iturbe, who moved from Verona to Roma for around 1 million (including bonuses): a nice coup, no doubt about it, which however pales in comparison to what has been done in other shores. Above all, once again, Real Madrid stands out as fresh European champions. The "Decima" did not take away the appetite of Florentino Perez who gave the white people James Rodriguez (28 million) and Toni Kroos (80): if football were an exact science we could already say who will be the winner of the next Champions League, but for luck is not so…
Also because, in the meantime, the others aren't just watching. Barcelona launched the challenge by purchasing Luis Suarez (80 million) who will thus compose a not bad trident with Messi and Neymar, but also Ter Stegen, a German goalkeeper with a bright future. Atletico Madrid? He sold a lot (we'll talk about it shortly) but he bought well (the goalkeeper Oblak from Benfica for 16 million, Siquieira from Granada for 10, Mandzukic from Bayern for 22): in short, the money collected does not go to the balance sheet ... Let's move on to England and even here there is little to smile about (for us of course). After a year of "zeru tituli" Josè Mourinho demanded a real army and Abramovich, ça va sans dire, satisfied him with pounds. The Blues bought Diego Costa (38 million), Fabregas (33), Filipe Luis (20) and Drogba (released), in addition to the returning Courtois; note how many reinforcements come from Atletico Madrid, coincidentally the team that eliminated Chelsea in the last Champions League… Another protagonist of the market across the Channel is Liverpool: Suarez sold, the Reds bought Lallana, Lambert (Southampton, respectively 31 and 5,5 million), Markovic (Benfica, 25), Can (Bayer Leverkusen, 12) and Remy (Newcastle, 10). More "selective" market for Manchester City and Arsenal but far from cheap given the figures on the pitch. The English champions did Porto shopping at home (Mangala and Fernando, 40 and 15 million), the Gunners focused on the right wing by buying Sanchez (38 million) and Debuchy (15). Manchester United? He won't win cups and therefore he's out of our investigation, but knowing Van Gaal he certainly won't limit himself in spending. The French and German bigs have spent less but this shouldn't deceive us: on the one hand those who already have full-fledged squads (Psg and Bayern, who in any case have added David Luiz and Lewandowski to their respective "frames"), on the other who can handle the dances from one moment to the next (Munich).
And U.S? We limit ourselves to observing the "real" market, that of the top players, so to speak, at most we collect some rejects (Evra or Cole) or we try to launch promising young players (Morata and Iturbe). With these premises, however, it is hard to win the Champions League, indeed very hard. A few months ago Conte, evidently already thinking about his resignation, spoke of Europe as a 100-euro restaurant where we (understood as Italian football) thought we could eat with 10. After seeing these figures, is it still possible to blame him?
