Serie A opens with widescale managerial turnover as Inter target a rare title defence
On 20 August 2026 in Italy, Serie A starts its new season amid a flurry of coaching changes at several clubs, with Milan, Napoli and Atalanta among those appointing new managers as Inter prepare to defend the title they won by an 11-point margin last season under Cristian Chivu.
The summer sporting calendar in Italy has been dominated by successes across other disciplines, including Andrea Kimi Antonelli becoming the first Italian driver in 20 years to win a Formula One race and Jannik Sinner defending his Wimbledon title, while Italy topped the medal table at the European Athletics Championships and finished second in the European Aquatics Championships; those achievements have coincided with a transfer window that some observers have described as underwhelming.
Milan’s headline move was a club-record €74m signing of Gonçalo Ramos from Paris Saint-Germain and the hiring of Ruben Amorim as manager; Ramos started 13 Ligue 1 games last season and 12 the year before, and Gazzetta reported his goals-to-minutes ratio has remained the third-best of any under-25 player across Europe’s top-five leagues in the past three seasons, while Amorim has said he believes he knows how to get the best out of Ramos and highlighted the player’s aptitude for breaking down low blocks.
The managerial reshuffle has been extensive: Massimiliano Allegri swapped roles with Milan to take charge at Napoli, Maurizio Sarri moved from Lazio to Atalanta, and Gennaro Gattuso replaced Sarri in Rome; Gattuso, the article notes, failed to qualify Italy to the World Cup. Allegri, responding to reminders of past controversies in Naples, quipped “that’s why I’m here, to repay things”, and owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has repeatedly referred to Allegri as an “aziendalista”.
Inter enter the season as clear favourites after finishing 11 points clear last term, with no club having successfully defended the Scudetto this decade; they sold Denzel Dumfries to Real Madrid after the right wing-back made 15 league starts last season, brought in Djed Spence and the returning Benjamin Pavard while adding John Stones, and remain active in the market as they pursue Curtis Jones from Liverpool, with uncertainty still surrounding who will start in goal. Their attacking options include Lautaro Martínez, Marcus Thuram, Francesco Pio Esposito and Ange-Yoan Bonny.
Other title contenders and challengers offer mixed signals: Roma, in Gian Piero Gasperini’s second season, added Santiago Castro; Como, who finished fourth last season, kept Nico Paz after paying €60m to re-sign him following Real Madrid’s activation of a buy-back clause and then immediate sale back to Como, and strengthened defensively by signing Trevoh Chalobah from Chelsea. Juventus reported a €41m fee for Randal Kolo Muani after a productive loan spell in 2025, brought in centre-back Jhon Lucumí from Bologna and added prospects Kerim Alajbegovic and Jeff Ekhator.
The mid-table picture and promoted sides present further intrigue: Fabio Grosso was appointed at Fiorentina after promoting Sassuolo then steering them to 11th and the club invested more than €100m in young talent, while the 20-year-old Christ Inao Oulaï was noted as a standout for Côte d’Ivoire at the World Cup. Daniele De Rossi has made an impressive start at Genoa, Parma under 31-year-old Carlos Cuesta — formerly an assistant to Mikel Arteta — finished 13th with just 28 goals, and newly promoted teams include Venezia, Monza, Frosinone and Lecce, with Monza returning via the playoffs with veterans such as Patrick Cutrone, Matteo Pessina and Andrea Petagna.
The season ahead will provide the decisive measure of whether the managerial merry-go-round and the summer transfers are enough to disrupt Inter’s position at the top of Serie A, as clubs contest places in the title race, European qualification spots and the fight to avoid relegation over the coming months.