Serie A clubs are repeatedly talking of the importance of developing their own talent yet that hasn’t stopped them from heading straight for the transfer window in traditional style.
Tomorrow’s meeting of traditional rivals Juventus and Inter and Gianfranco Zola’s debut as a Serie A coach with Cagliari the same day have both been buried among the swirl of rumours and transfer chitchat.
The Italian window officially opens today yet the wheeling and dealing got under way well before Christmas.
Milan, first into action, replaced one misfiring striker with another as Spaniard Fernando Torres departed for Atletico Madrid in a swap with Alessio Cerci.
Torres managed one goal in 10 appearances for Milan while Cerci mustered nine appearances for Atletico and scored one goal following his move from Torino in August.
Inter, meanwhile, are on the point of signing out-of-favour Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski, having already welcomed the German to their training ground.
Yesterday, the influential Gazzetta dello Sport also re-ported that Juventus had been in touch with Galatasaray over Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneij-der while Inter were said to be in the running for Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri.
The Swiss international has been getting less and less playing time for the Bundesliga champions under Pep Guardiola.
Nearly all the talk has involved players who have fallen out of favour elsewhere, a sad reflection on the state of Serie A which once used to attract the world’s best.
Lazio and Sampdoria, joint third alongside Napoli with 27 points, get the ball rolling tonight as Serie A resumes following a two-week Christmas break.
The other matches are all tomorrow, a bank holiday, with leaders Juventus hosting Inter, who are languishing in mid-table with coach Roberto Mancini repeatedly complaining about the squad he inherited from predecessor Walter Mazzarri.
Second-placed Roma, three points behind Juventus, visit Udinese.
Coach Rudi Garcia told reporters yesterday that he was still bitter about Juve’s 3-2 win over his side in September when the hosts were awarded two controversial penalties.
“It’s difficult to erase the feeling of injustice and maybe I won’t succeed in doing that for the rest of the season, or even the rest of my life,” said the Frenchman.
Cagliari, in the relegation zone with only 12 points, visit Palermo for their first match under former West Ham United and Watford coach Zola, who replaced Zdenek Zeman just before Christmas.
Serie A fixtures
Today: 20.45 Lazio vs Sampdoria.
Tomorrow: 12.30 Udinese vs Roma. 15.00 Chievo vs Torino; Empoli vs Verona; Genoa vs Atalanta; Milan vs Sassuolo; Palermo vs Cagliari; Parma vs Fiorentina. 18.00 Cesena vs Napoli.
21.00 Juventus vs Inter.
Current standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Juventus | 16 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 34 | 7 | 39 |
| Roma | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 11 | 36 |
| Lazio | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 28 | 19 | 27 |
| Napoli | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 28 | 20 | 27 |
| Sampdoria | 16 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 22 | 14 | 27 |
| Genoa | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 15 | 26 |
| Milan | 16 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 25 | 18 | 25 |
| Fiorentina | 16 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 21 | 13 | 24 |
| Udinese | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 22 | 22 |
| Palermo | 16 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 22 | 26 | 22 |
| Inter | 16 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 25 | 23 | 21 |
| Sassuolo | 16 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 20 |
| Empoli | 16 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 17 |
| Torino | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 17 |
| Verona | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 18 | 27 | 17 |
| Chievo | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 19 | 16 |
| Atalanta | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 21 | 15 |
| Cagliari | 16 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 21 | 29 | 12 |
| Cesena | 16 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 30 | 9 |
| Parma (-1) | 16 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 16 | 36 | 6 |
Leading scorers
10 goals: Tevez (Juventus).
8 goals: Callejon (Napoli), Icardi (Inter), Di Natale (Udinese), Menez (Milan).