Euro Bites: Serie A - Italy secure vital Euro 2016 wins, Inter Milan complete spending spree and Mario Balotelli scores on AC Milan return

Latest news from Serie A and Italy as the national team secure two crucial Euro 2016 qualifier wins, Juventus and Inter Milan busy themselves in the transfer market and Napoli miss out on a new signing.

INTER ENJOY SHOPPING SPREE

On Monday night, the first phase of Italy’s football transfer window came to a close - and Inter finished with a bang. After a summer of numerous acquisitions, Inter acquired no less than three players on the last day. Defender Alex Telles and midfielder Felipe Melo were bought from Galatasaray, while the Serbian striker Adem Ljajic was signed from Roma. Although beginning a season with 10 new players seems over the top, coach Roberto Mancini is pushing for a complete makeover of the team after the last few years of disappointing results. Inter’s president, Erick Thohir, is onboard, declaring that Telles will bring “energy and enthusiasm”, Melo “strength and experience” and Ljajic his ability to score. Fans hope that this influx of talent will mark the beginning of a new chapter in Inter’s history.

JUVENTUS BEEFS UP MIDFIELD

With gaping holes in a midfield without Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal, who were sold this summer to New York City and Bayern Munchen respectively, as well as the preseason injuries to Claudio Marchisio and Sami Khedira, Juventus began this season with two defeats. In the transfer window, Juventus’ management attempted to boost their midfield stocks by making an offer to Schalke 04 for Julian Draxler, only to be outbid by German team Wolfsburg. Undeterred, Juve head Giuseppe Marotta concluded deals to sign two other midfield targets before the market closed: Brazilian midfielder Hernanes joining from Inter for €11 million, and the 21-year-old Mario Lemina from Olympique de Marseille. High hopes are pinned on Hernanes, a strong, adaptable player who has five years of experience in the Italian Serie A and is particularly skilled at free-kicks.

ITALY UNDERWHELM IN 1-0 WIN OVER MALTA

This week the Serie A took a break as the focus turned to the European Championship qualifiers, but on Thursday Italian fans were disappointed by the spectacle. Although the national team defeated Malta 1-0 in Florence, the match may go down as one of the most poorly played in Italy’s history. The first half was particularly dire with slow play in attack and some wayward passing. Malta’s defence had an easy time of it until well into the second half when Lazio’s Antonio Candreva brought dynamism and speed from the bench. It was on a cross by Candreva that Graziano Pellè scored from, although he put in with his arm. Although it was difficult for the referee to see, replays clearly proved that the goal should have been disallowed. At the end of the game, Italy’s coach Antonio Conte said that he was satisfied because these days “there are no weak teams. Every match has its own challenges and dangers.”

ITALY BETTER IN BULGARIA WIN AND ON COURSE FOR EUROS

Italy played a completely different game on Sunday night against Bulgaria, showing little trace of the sluggishness they displayed against Malta. Conte’s players were aggressive and determined, particularly Marco Verratti in midfield and Stephan El Shaarawy and Marco Parolo on the wings. Although Bulgaria had few opportunities to score, two fantastic saves by Gigi Buffon demonstrated that he is still a pillar of the national team and one of the greatest goalkeepers in the world. A penalty kick by De Rossi in the 6th minute was enough to secure a victory that leaves Italy top of the group going into the last two qualifying matches, which will determine which two teams will qualify from Italy, Norway and Croatia.

MARIO BALOTELLI NOT ENOUGH FOR AC MILAN

The Inter-Milan derby will take place next Sunday, and expectations are high for the nearly sold-out event. In preparation, Milan played a friendly match against Mantova last Thursday in which the team demonstrated continuing difficulties, particularly a static midfield and lack of drive and physicality in defence. Offensively, it was a different story, especially given the satisfying performance of Mario Balotelli in his first match back at AC Milan. He scored with a 20-metre curling effort after just three minutes of play and assisted the other two Milan goals. Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic said that Balotelli is training hard, but hasn’t played for a while and will play Serie A matches only when he is fully ready. For the derby, Mihajlovic wants a different approach from the one his team showed in Mantova. “Only those in top physical shape, and with real enthusiasm, will play,” he said.

STRICT TRANSFER DEADLINE

On the day of closure of the Italian football transfer window, contracts for the sale and acquisition of players had to be deposited before 11pm on Monday night. SSC Napoli management learned the hard way that this deadline was non-negotiable, when their potential acquisition of Roberto Soriano from Sampdoria was thwarted because they didn’t make it with the signed contract on time. Before lamenting typical Italian disorganisation, Napoli sympathisers pointed out that the same misadventure happened to one of the leaders of international football, Real Madrid, whose acquisition of goalkeeper David de Gea from Manchester United was not concluded because of tardy paperwork.