Serie A, home of the old men

Juventus have made a new offer of £15m (€17.3m) for Jadon Sancho, an improvement on the previous offer of £13m (€15m), but still a long way from the figure United wanted (£21.6m, or €25m).

Can Juventus' efforts to sign the 25-year-old Englishman, along with Porto's successful transfer of 22-year-old Francisco Conceicao for €35 million in four instalments, help make Serie A a little younger? The answer is no, as the trend of signing ageing stars remains popular in the land of pasta.

A few days ago, Fiorentina signed 39-year-old Edin Dzeko. De Bruyne, 34, also recently joined Napoli, while Milan welcomed 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric, now 39. They will be joined by Daniele Padelli, Pedro, the 37-year-old duo of Lazio, Francesco Acerbi (37) and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (36) of Inter, Alexis Sanchez (36) of Udinese and Lorenzo De Silvestri (37) of Bologna, and many others, making Serie A a tournament for old men.

De Bruyne joined Napoli after 10 years with Man City.

This goes against the trend of modern football, when young players have more opportunities to perform than before. The fact that teams prefer a high-intensity pressing style, and at the same time, the positional style of play forces players to move more, requiring more physical strength, also means that being young is an advantage. In addition, the development of the Academy with the help of technology and sports science has encouraged players to mature early.

Lamine Yamal is a case in point. At the age of 18, he has played more than 100 games for Barca (scoring 25 goals), 20 games (scoring 6 goals) for the Spanish national team, and has become a major candidate for the Ballon d'Or. In addition, statistics show that over the past decade, the number of players under the age of 23 playing more than 900 minutes in the Premier League has increased by 32%. Another example is the recent FIFA Club World Cup 2025 final, the average age of Chelsea's starting lineup was 24.7, while PSG's was 25.2.

Not everywhere is so voracious, though. Serie A is a little slower and there is room for players who prefer to be more subtle rather than run-and-gun. Italy has become a haven for old men who still want to breathe in the atmosphere of top-flight football.

Inter Milan reached the 2024/25 Champions League final with an aging squad.

In its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, Serie A was home to some of the biggest stars in world football. Today, the Italian league is still full of stars. The only difference is that they are not only past their prime, but are well into the twilight of their careers.

Before joining Milan, Modric bid farewell to Real with 16 minutes on the pitch in a 0-4 defeat to PSG. Despite appearing in all six games at the Club World Cup, he did not start any, playing just 119 minutes in total. De Bruyne was similarly subservient in his final spell at Man City. Pep Guardiola praised his contributions, but made it clear that the Belgian midfielder was no longer suitable for the rebuild at the Etihad.

Of course, De Bruyne is still suitable for Napoli, similarly Milan believe Modric will bring many positives to Milan. They are also expected to make Serie A more attractive, at the same time creating a competitive season. After the period of Juventus's dominance, the tournament has become more balanced and the positions in the top 4 change frequently. Maybe Serie A is behind the top European leagues but that is okay. Everyone is still happy, from young to old.