Chapter 7

As the story unfolds, with the already relegated Fiorentina making a significant move in the transfer market, the other Serie A teams naturally did not want to be left behind, each seeking possible transfers to strengthen their squads.

At this time, the economic recession in Italy had yet to arrive, and the owners of these Serie A clubs had not yet developed the habit of tightening their purse strings.

If history had progressed normally, by the end of 1994, the Italian currency, the lira, would have collapsed. From then on, the mid to small-sized Italian teams would no longer make large-scale signings of famous foreign players. From the late 1990s to the end of the 2001-02 season, only a few teams in Serie A could afford such big moves: Inter Milan, owned by the Moratti family; AC Milan, under the passionate Silvio Berlusconi; Roma, led by Sensi; Lazio, managed by Cragnotti; and Juventus.

As for the other teams, some, like Udinese, began engaging in the "human trafficking" business, while others, like Parma and Fiorentina, started to face financial crises and began selling off their key players. This marked the beginning of Serie A's decline... but I digress.

Let's return to the 1993 transfer market. The first to act was Sampdoria, under Enrico Mantovani. The younger Mantovani, who had inherited the club from his father, the late Paolo Mantovani, seemed even more enthusiastic about player transactions. He first secured the English player David Platt from Juventus, then brought in "Braided General" Ruud Gullit and Alberigo Evani from AC Milan. The departure of the Dutch superstar Gullit marked the end of the "Dutch Trio" era at Milan.

After Gullit's departure, AC Milan also sent another member of the "Dutch Trio," "Black Swan" Frank Rijkaard, back to his homeland, where he would play for his former club, Ajax, in the next season. At the same time, veteran Carlo Ancelotti announced his retirement at the end of the season.

With the loss of several key players, AC Milan made several significant moves in the market. They signed Michael Laudrup from Fiorentina, Radu Jucu from Brescia, and most importantly, Marcel Desailly from Marseille, who were embroiled in a match-fixing scandal. Desailly would fill the void left by Rijkaard and Ancelotti.

Although Dutch superstar Marco van Basten was unable to play in the next season due to injury, AC Milan still had a strong squad with players like Roberto Lentini, Christian Panucci, Gianluca Erani, and Marco Simone. The golden defense, led by Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta, Mauro Tassotti, and Sebastiano Rossi, was still at its peak despite showing signs of aging. AC Milan remained a strong contender for the title in the new season.

Napoli, having lost many key players, urgently invited Marcello Lippi, the coach of Atalanta, to take charge. They then retained team captain Ciro Ferrara, signed Di Canio on loan from Juventus, and brought in several other players on loan. They also promoted some young players from their youth academy and signed some players from lower leagues, piecing together a squad capable of competing in Serie A.

The whole of Italy was watching Napoli's struggles, but only Zhuang Mingge knew that under the leadership of "Silver Fox" Lippi, this Napoli team would display surprising fighting spirit, finishing sixth in the league and securing a spot in the UEFA Cup for the next season. This was also Napoli's last moment of glory in the 20th century.

Juventus, who had just won the UEFA Cup, did not slow down in their transfer activities. With stars like Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli, Pierluigi Casiraghi, and Angelo Peruzzi, Juventus continued their policy of focusing on local talent. They signed Di Livio and the future "Juventus Prince" Del Piero from Serie B club Padova, further strengthening their squad.

After the breakup of the "German Trio," Inter Milan also made a significant move, signing Wim Jonk and the "Ice Prince" Dennis Bergkamp from Ajax for a high price of £12 million. The success of the "Dutch Trio" had cast a brilliant light on Dutch players, and Bergkamp's debut at the San Siro caused a sensation in the Italian media. Other transfers seemed to pale in comparison to the excitement generated by Bergkamp.

Despite their poor performance in recent years, the capital club Roma never gave up on their dream of winning the league title. In the summer, they signed the Argentine striker Gabriel Batistuta from Udinese.

Roma's city rival, Lazio, was not to be outdone. They signed Paolo Negro from Brescia, Alen Boksic from Marseille, and the underused Gianluca Vialli from Juventus. They also brought in the goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca from Torino, and added the English midfield star Paul Gascoigne to their squad, significantly boosting their strength.

Parma, controlled by the Italian dairy giant Parmalat, was ambitious. They signed Gianfranco Zola from the financially troubled Napoli to pair with the Colombian striker Faustino Asprilla. They also brought in the Argentine central defender Roberto Ayala, replaced the Brazilian goalkeeper Taffarel with the Italian goalkeeper Luca Bucci, and sent the veteran Attilio Lombardo to Brazil. The entire Parma team exuded youthful energy.

Seeing the intense activity in the Italian transfer market, other leagues were not to be outdone. Barcelona, who had won three consecutive La Liga titles, signed the Brazilian striker Romário. Real Madrid, on the other hand, signed the Spanish central defender Alkorta from Athletic Bilbao, and the rivalry between the two Spanish giants extended from the pitch to the transfer market. As the third-place team in the previous season, Deportivo La Coruña signed the 31-year-old veteran Donato from Atlético Madrid (who would go on to play for Deportivo for a decade and break the record for the oldest goal scorer in La Liga twice).

In the newly formed Premier League, Manchester United, who had won the first Premier League title, continued to strengthen their squad. A phone call from Sir Alex Ferguson secured the young Roy Keane from Nottingham Forest, snatching him away from Blackburn.

However, English football had not yet recovered from the five-year ban from European competitions imposed by UEFA. Despite the continued enthusiasm of local fans, the transfer market was relatively quiet, with few foreign players willing to play in England.

German clubs, known for their frugality, did not make many high-profile signings. Dortmund signed Matthias Sammer, who had returned from Inter Milan, and Werder Bremen signed Mario Basler from Hertha Berlin. The transfer market in Germany was not particularly active.

The intensity of the transfer market clearly showed that Serie A was still the leading league in Europe.

This is not an exaggeration. The strength of a league is often determined by the purchasing power of its teams and the number of star players. For example, while Real Madrid and Barcelona are indeed strong and have many stars, the other teams in La Liga are not as competitive, making it more of a "Super League" rather than a balanced league. In contrast, the Premier League has several teams capable of challenging for the title, such as Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, and a second tier of teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Everton, all of which can cause upsets. Therefore, in terms of league quality, La Liga still falls short of the Premier League.

However, the transfer market is now of little concern to Fiorentina, as their signings for the season have already been completed. They now await the start of the summer training on July 20 to integrate the new players into the team.

PS1: Due to a large job fair today, the author went to submit resumes in the morning and was unable to update the story in a timely manner...

PS2: I hereby declare that this book will not be abandoned. Readers can rest assured and enjoy the story.

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