Italian Serie A: Why Inter and Roma Have Helped Milan's Scudetto Hopes

The summer transfer window is a period when teams have the ability to completely overhaul their squad within the matter of a few months. Teams are often eager to sign young players who have the potential to grow into world-class players on the cheap, and then attempt to cultivate their talent either by loaning them out or incorporating them into their first team.

During this current transfer window, Inter and Roma have added players who they will look to in the future as integral parts of their squads. However, in order for the players to garner enough experience to impact the team, they must be played and played often.

I've always been a fan of signing raw, young talent, because frankly, they're exciting to watch. They play with flair and abandon, trying to make something out of nothing, and in the case that it works out, it's brilliant to watch.

Yet, when talk is thrown around about the future of Maicon, arguably the best all-around right back in world football, due to the signing of a Brazilian named Jonathan, one has to be wary. I'll now give you my opinion about how I think that the signings of Inter and Roma could have each of them see a transitional phase in this upcoming season.

As far as Inter is concerned, I believe they have done OK during this transfer window. They added depth to their defense by signing the aforementioned Jonathan, whom I have heard is a solid player despite never actually paid attention to his play. I was more focused on Neymar and Ganso whenever I have seen Santos play. Nagatomo is a marauding fullback who will use his speed to make surging runs into the opponent's half. And I also think it was smart to sign him after he was loaned to them last season.

Signing Viviano was a fantastic piece of business by Moratti especially due to the low transfer fee and the fact that he is seen as a front-runner in succeeding Buffon as Italy's national keeper. Luc Castaignos is one for the future, as his skill on the ball and stature have led to him being considered "the next Thierry Henry"—truly frightening to hear as a Milan fan.

Now, all compliments aside, I think the signing of Ricardo Alvarez was not a good one at all. Though Alvarez was brilliant during the Copa Libertadores, he has been hampered by injury for the seasons he did play with Velez Sarsfield, and he was not touted as a superstar before those performances. He will fit better into the Italian game better than he would have at Arsenal, the other club reportedly interested in his services over the summer. But I don't know why Inter would sign him.

They have Phillipe Coutinho on their squad, an incredibly promising young player who, frankly, has more upside than Alvarez does. They paid a hefty price for a player who has only played 42 games in three seasons for Velez, and now they have placed him ahead of Coutinho on their depth chart.

Wesley Sneijder has been linked with a move away from Inter for a long time and I have heard some say that Alvarez would take his spot in the squad. Sneijder is arguably the best attacking midfielder in the world (I would argue Andres Iniesta would be the other) and no one can tell me an unproven, 23-year-old with no national caps, who is incredibly injury prone, can be expected to replace a world-class talent.

Inter should have been focused on signing a world-class center back. They have the money, and the aging rotation of Lucio, Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba don't cut it. Instead of signing two young players at the same position, who don't look like they are breaking down anytime soon (Sneijder and Maicon), sign a player within the biggest problem area of your squad. Hummels or Subotic would be amazing in Serie A. And if they were looking elsewhere, I think Rolando from FC Porto would play very well in Italy.

Now on to Roma. Roma's two major signings of the summer have been Bojan and Erik Lamela. Bojan was overshadowed at Barcelona in the past couple years due to the emergence of Pedro as a world-class player. Since Bojan was signed, Mirko Vucinic has been linked with an exit from the capital. Vucinic is very talented and should undoubtedly be a starting striker in Serie A regardless of if he is in the same squad as Bojan.

Marco Borriello will start as he has played well in Rome and secured a permanent move from Milan earlier this summer. So now the question becomes, do you start Bojan, a new face in Serie A, or Vucinic, a guaranteed goal-getter with a solid scoring record in the Italian top flight?

Lamela is very much a work in progress. He did star for River Plate, however, his efforts were not enough to prevent them from being relegated while he was playing with the best group of young talent in Argentina's top flight.

Lamela seems to play any position, as I've heard he is a winger, a trequartista or a center midfielder. So now he would be put up against Fabio Simplicio, a relatively new signing who has played well; David Pizarro, an experienced, versatile midfielder; Simone Perrotta, a fixture in the squad for the past seven years; Rodrigo Taddei, another consistent performer for Roma: and their talismanic captain Francesco Totti, who will always be in the starting XI until his retirement.

So now the question for Gian Piero Gasperini and Luis Enrique is who to play. While it is always good to have depth on a squad, signing young players who may not be given the time they need to develop is almost a disservice to the player as well as the club. Should one play an exciting youngster who is guaranteed to be a fan favorite? Or the consistent performer with a wealth of experience in the Italian flight?

I saw very little of Coutinho last season partly due to injury, and partly due to the fact that the player ahead of him on the depth chart was Sneijder. Adding Alvarez into this mix means that one of the aforementioned will most likely fall out of favor. Coaches may be pressured into putting in the players in which they have made a substantial financial commitment; but this may come at the expense of stars of the Italian game.

While one may be impressed at the signings that Inter and Roma have made this transfer season, it could benefit AC Milan, who have not threatened the spots of any of their traditional stars except for maybe Seedorf. He was only signed to a one-year deal, and AC Milan have signed Italy's most promising young star in Stephan El-Shaarawy.

We'll see how this progresses as the season goes on, but I would not be surprised if seasoned veterans or young starlets become frustrated with the lack of time on the pitch.