Karim Benzema, the'last big market coup is Simone Inzaghi’s
Karim Benzema is officially a new player of Al-Hilal. Having archived his experience with Al-Ittihad, the club with which he played the last few seasons, the former Golden Ball winner has decided to change teams, but staying in Saudi Arabia, signing for another big name in the local league, led by’former Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi, who can now count on a player with an infinite palmares and who 38 years old can still give goals and star plays.
Although there had been talk in recent hours of a possible return to Europe, with even Juventus among the teams interested, the French center forward chose to stay in the Saudi Pro League, simply moving from Jeddah to Riyadh. An absolute heavyweight purchase for Al-Hilal, currently the league leaders ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr. With Benzema’s arrival, the Inzaghi-coached outfit is a strong candidate for the role of title favorite, regardless of the minimum margin in the standings: just one point over second and three over Al-Ahli.
In Italy, the winter window dedicated to the market ended without a bang. Several transactions definitely skipped, such as the possible return of Mauro Icardi with the Juventus jersey or the landing of Jean-Philippe Mateta at AC Milan. The French national team striker, who seemed to be one step away from signing with the Diavolo, did not pass the medical examinations and his move to the Rossoneri will not be formalized, while there are those who have already reached their new team such as Ademola Lookman, ready to start his new adventure with the Atletico Madrid jersey.
However, there was no shortage of last-minute hits: Napoli announced the arrival on loan with option rights of Alisson de Almeida Santos from Sporting while Inter made official the outright purchase of Yanis Massolin from Modena. After saying no to the possible six-month signing of Mauro Icardi, Juventus consoled itself with the swoop of Emil Holm from Bologna, who arrives on loan with the right of redemption (the Rossoblù instead received Joao Mario, precisely from Juve, on a dry loan). Finally, AC Milan bought Alphadjo Cissè from Hellas Verona, while Roma strengthened in attack with the arrival on loan of Bryan Zaragoza from Bayern Munich.
The club’s squad has been strengthened by the arrival of Bryan Zaragoza from Bayern Munich.
Firenze acquired Daniele Rugani on loan from Juventus while Pisa announced former Bianconeri Samuel Iling-Junior returning to Italy on a loan basis until June. Cremonese landed a double coup: Luperto in defense and Thorsby in midfield, both bought outright from Cagliari and Genoa, respectively.
