The Tuesday Calcio Wrap-Up #20🇮🇹⚽️: The transfer window rumbles on, UK's Serie A TV coverage and what is the Anglo Palermitan Trophy?!
Welcome to this week's wrap-up, where I give my thoughts on all the ups, downs and round and rounds from a weekend of Calcio fun.
Not much to report on this week, to be honest. Club World Cup? Well, both Inter and Juventus are out. We’ve pretty much got just transfer rumours coming out of our ears, some more ridiculous than others. Fabrizio Romano is loving life, with Victor Osimhen’s future all over the place, Dusan Vlahovic remaining stubborn and the likes of Giorgio Scalvini and Francesco Camarda on the move. Away from transfers, the new TV rights in the UK have been announced, and we have a new pre-season trophy on the horizon: the Anglo-Palermitan Trophy. All that and more in this week’s Tuesday Calcio Wrap-Up…
The good fun of the Serie A transfer window…
Victor Osimhen has chosen Galatasaray. Jonathan David has arrived at Juventus on a free transfer despite looking likely for Naples earlier in the summer. Sam Beukema switches from Bologna to join Napoli. Inter have signed Yoan Bonny from Parma. And Theo Hernandez leaves for Saudi Arabia. Many transfers are ongoing, and players are entering and leaving the league daily. It’s a fun, fun, fun window with more to come. Rumours are circulating Milan are in the market for a new striker despite adding Santiago Gimenez last season.
Two deals to keep an eye on include Francesco Camarda and Giorgio Scalvini. The former has switched to Lecce from Milan, hoping to get some game time and experience. I like the move, too, because he will gain playing time in the Serie A - especially with Nikola Krstovic leaving. The latter is on the shortlist for Newcastle United, which would be a huge move to a Premier League side. Whilst it’s sad a talent like Scalvini would leave the league, I can’t help but enjoy it as I am a Newcastle fan…
Which channel will we be able to watch Serie A on next season?
As usual, TV rights for Serie A are a right farce. The top dogs of the league are more worried about piracy than actually progressing the league. Last season, we were left until the last minute, not knowing where to watch the league. TNT had dropped their coverage to two games a week, leaving One Football to swoop in with a subscription model for the rest of the games. It seems we have the same again this season, but DAZN is taking up the majority of the games on a similar subscription model and TNT is continuing their two games a week. What I hope for is proactivity. Games need to be decided way earlier than the previous season, allowing fans (both local and international) to plan their attendance at the games. Will it happen? Well, they’ve started well. The first fixtures have already been decided, which is a step in the right direction. A long way to go, for sure. But this is Serie A. One thing to note is that James Richardson is employed by DAZN for the Club World Cup. Could we be heading back to the Golazzo years?!
Time for the Anglo-Palermitan Trophy
Manchester City will be making the trip to Sicily to face Serie B side Palermo in the inaugural Anglo-Palermitan Trophy, a brand new pre-season match. Of course, it would be City, too, give both clubs are under the City Group. The match is part of Palermo’s 125th anniversary celebrations and commemorates the Sicilian club’s maiden fixture against a team of British sailors in 1900. It’s the first time the teams will play each other and is an ode to Palermo’s heritage and English roots.
The azzurre are doing pretty well in Euro 2025, maybe worth a mention?