8 Serie A Players Whose Contracts Are Ending Next Season

In the penultimate article on players whose contract ends next summer, I will take a look at who may well be available for free next season in Serie A, evaluate who may want them, and express my surprise at some of the inclusions. Serie A is rich with experienced players that reigned supreme six or seven years ago and are now just hoping to keep their fitness in order to be of use to teams. Javier Zanetti, for example, is 40 years old and is still churning out 40 appearances a season. However, an injury has limited him to just one appearance so far this season. His contract does end next summer as well, but he doesn't make the list due to age and his commitment to Inter Milan. Esteban Cambiasso, Andrea Pirlo, Diego Milito, David Pizarro, Miroslav Klose, Walter Samuel, Nicola Legrottaglie and many more legends of the game will be out of contract next summer. Plenty of bargains to be had there. 

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5 Reasons Why I love Serie A

Maybe its because Italian blood runs through my veins, but Serie A has always been one of my favourite leagues to watch. Whether it’s a huge match between Juventus and Inter Milan or the derby between Lazio and Roma, I fall in love with the league even more every time I’m lucky enough to catch it on television. I think its pretty underrated - there is a lot of talent down in Italy, both new as well as the Italian legends that still grace the pitch for their favorite teams. Here are five reasons why I love Serie A, and why you should, too!

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A look at the terribly huge decline of Serie A

In 2006, Italian football was hit by a match-fixing scandal known as Calcipoli that involved the country’s top football leagues. As a result, Juventus, the team with the most Serie A titles, was relegated to Serie B. They also received a nine-point deduction ahead of the new season and were stripped of the 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles. AC Milan, the team with the second most Serie A Championships, recieved an eight-point deduction for the following season. And that, football fans, is how the downswing of Italian football league began.

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Roma experiencing the Gervinho effect (Video)

How about that Roma eh? One goal conceded? Top of Serie A? Ten wins out of ten? Not too shabby.

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Boateng arrival lifts Schalke Gloom

So it might not have been as eye catching as some of the big money moves across Europe in the madness and melee of the closing days of the transfer window, however Schalke’s capture of Ghanaian international Kevin-Prince Boateng could well prove one of the shrewdest.

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Can Nicklas Bendtner Rediscover His Scoring Touch?

Nicklas Bendtner is still at Arsenal.  Nine years have passed since he joined the club, but the striker remains an option for Arsene Wenger to use at the head of his side’s attack.

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Who Will Win Serie A This Season?

This weekend saw the return of Serie A, so I thought that I would take a look at the teams likely to challenge for the title, and see whether anyone can knock Juventus off the top spot that has been theirs for several years now.

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A Look At Southampton's New Big-Money Signing

Southampton splashed out over £12 million on Pablo Osvaldo (who somewhat bizarrely claimed in his first press conference at the club that he wished to be known by his middle name ‘Daniel’), but just what can Saints expect the Argentine-Italian striker to bring to their ever-improving squad?

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Del Piero - The Legend (Video)

It is true; the one club player is a dying breed. As evidenced with the recent Luis Suarez nonsense, there is no loyalty remaining in football these days.

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Serie A – The transfer window so far

Serie A has already seen a host of movement occur this transfer window, with virtually all of the big players strengthening their squads. In previous campaigns the cash has been somewhat lacking in Italy however this opening period indicates that Serie A clubs are now once again in a position to compete with the rest of Europe’s elite financially.

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Rafa Benitez has a point to prove with Napoli

With the signing of Gonzalo Higuain to replace Edinson Cavani, and the arrivals of Pepe Reina, Raul Albiol and Jose Callejon during the past month, Rafa Benitez has very quickly made his mark on Napoli and brought in a lot of Spanish or Spanish speaking players. Whether this is a conscious effort to surround himself with players that have been educated the 'Spanish way' and understand the type of football that he wants to play remains to be seen, although he is clearly looking for an improvement on his previous attempt at management in Serie A.

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Summer signings - Who has paid too much? (Video)

In the second part of my look at summer transfers so far, I turn my attention to clubs that have paid too much to sign a player and what they should have done with the money instead.

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Summer signings - best business (Video)

There is still over a month left until the summer transfer window closes, but I thought I would assess the moves that have already taken place and evaluate who has got the best bargain.

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One to watch: Manolo Gabbiadini (Video)

Now, bear with me whilst I explain to you the circumstances under which I became familiar with Manolo Gabbiadini.

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A tactical look at striker options - have we seen the death of the partnership?

Once upon a time, nearly every team in Europe played with two strikers in their line of attack. There were various combinations of player types that could work well together, but most seem to be dying out now as the movement towards a lone striker backed up by three attacking midfielders appears to be gaining favour with managers. I decided to look at some of the most effective, and memorable, striking partnerships from recent times and assess whether we really are witnessing the end of such an era.

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