5️⃣ questions ahead of the new Serie A season ❓ | OneFootball

Serie A kicks off this weekend and looks more competitive than ever. As always, there will be plenty of twists and turns, and there’s a break for the World Cup to contend with too.

Here are the five biggest questions we need answers to in 2022/23.

Who will win the title?

It’s going to be a really interesting race for the Scudetto in 2022/23.

Charles De Ketelaere has made the move to San Siro to bolster the attack but Milan’s supporters seem disgruntled at the lack of action in the transfer market with Franck Kessié’s departure leaving the squad a little light in midfield.

Challenging them will be Inter, who have strengthened with the return of Romelu Lukaku, while Juventus will be hoping to return to form.

The Old Lady have added Paul Pogba and Ángel Di Maria in the summer but question marks over the old-fashioned approach of boss Max Allegri remain.

Watch out for Roma, who have already won a trophy under José Mourinho, as they have strengthened well in the summer. New signings Paulo Dybala, Gini Wijnaldum and Nemanja Matić add talent and experience to a side that was previously lacking in the latter. Record season ticket sales tell you all you need to know about the optimism of their supporters.

What now for new-look Napoli?

With the departures of Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens and Kalidou Koulibaly this summer, it seems like Napoli have ripped the heart out of their team. Those were the last three members of the Maurizio Sarri side that wowed even the neutrals with their easy-on-the eye style between 2015 and 2018.

Instead, the Partenopei have brought in a South Korean centreback in Kim Min-jae and a 21-year-old winger from Dinamo Batumi but they will need to hit the ground running.

Insigne and Mertens contributed 22 goals and 10 assists last season, and it’s hard to see where and how those contributions are going to come from this time around.

It even seems like boss Luciano Spalletti understands that this season might be a period of transition for his side, as he acknowledged “limitations” in a recent interview with Corriere della Sera. But will the fans accept the situation so readily?

Can Lukaku return to top form?

Romelu Lukaku didn’t live up to expectations following a £76m move from Everton to Manchester United in 2017, and history repeated after Chelsea paid more than £100m for the Belgian last summer.

Lukaku failed to adapt to life under Thomas Tuchel, scoring just eight Premier League goals last season, but it’s not all bad news as the 29-year-old returns to Inter.

Arriving on loan, Lukaku is back in his “happy place” playing for a team he scored 60 goals for over the course of two seasons before his return to the Premier League.

It’s no wonder the Nerazzurri are just as excited to welcome the striker back to San Siro as he is to return.

Lukaku’s replacement, Edin Džeko, scored just 13 league goals as city rivals Milan won the title last season.  Can Lukaku recover his form after another Premier League setback and fire Inter back to the title?

Can Paulo Dybala reignite his career?

Paulo Dybala has struggled to hit the heights expected of him sincee achieving a career-high of 22 league goals and five assists for Juventus in 2017/18.

A mixture of injuries and an unusually high turnover of coaches at since then has seen the Argentine lack consistency and he mustered just ten goals last season.

Only two of those ten came against sides that could be considered as direct rivals to Juve – Inter and Roma – while the rest were netted versus Udinese, Sampdoria, Genoa, Salernitana and Sassuolo.

It is hardly what you’d expect from a player that was once considered as the heir to Lionel Messi. But he has moved on from Juve now and a hero’s welcome in Rome that saw 10,000 fans take to the streets with flags and flares.

Can this be the fresh start he needs?

What can Monza do this season?

In February 1986, Silvio Berlusconi saved Milan from bankruptcy. By 1988 had taken them from Serie B to the Scudetto. They’d go on to win five Champions Leagues under his ownership.

Fast forward to 2022 and Berlusconi – along with right-hand man Adriano Galliani – has taken Monza from Serie C to the top flight.

Their success over three decades with Milan may be impossible to replicate, but Berlusconi and Galliani have used their contacts book to attract some interesting players to Monza for what is the club’s first ever season in Serie A.

Their summer signings include Gianluca Caprari, Stefano Sensi, Alessio Cragno, Andrea Ranocchia and Matteo Pessina, a member of the Italy squad that won Euro 2020 last year. It’s an impressive cast that all have Serie A experience and should be more than enough to keep them up.

But how far can they actually go?