Serie A 2026/27 Preview: The Italian football summer has been one of despair, resentment, and chaos. The four-time World Cup champions once again missed out on qualifying for the World Cup, despite the expanded format. Their fans and players watched from home as the teams battled it out in North America, with some fascinating stories emerging.
The attention then quickly turned to building towards the future, and the search for a new national team coach got underway. The Italian Football Federation appointed Paolo Maldini as technical director, and Leonardo was brought in as his assistant. Ambitious names such as Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti were linked before Andrea Pirlo emerged as a favourite.
But Maldini and Leonardo quit 16 days after being appointed FIGC president Giovanni Malago after the move for Pirlo fell through. According to reports, Malago didn’t want to appoint Pirlo due to concerns over his links to a Russian gambling firm. Finally, Roberto Mancini, who led the team to the Euro 2020 title, was approached and reappointed as coach.
While other top European countries are focused on the upcoming domestic season, Italian football has been dominated by the saga surrounding their national side. Now, with Mancini set to take up the reins once again, the attention is finally turning to the Serie A 2026/27 season. Curva Global takes a look at the biggest storylines ahead of the new season.
Inter Milan eye Serie A dominance under Christian Chivu
After Simone Inzaghi’s departure, Inter Milan went ahead and appointed former player Christian Chivu as their new manager. It was a shrewd move, with Chivu having coached in the club’s youth set-up across different age groups, before joining Parma for his first senior managerial role.
He had done with to keep Parma in the league but was now headed to a club with massive expectations. Chivu was also up against the likes of Antonio Conte, who had won the 2025/26 Serie A title at Napoli and serial winner Max Allegri at AC Milan. Yet, Chivu appeared unfazed and led Inter to a second Scudetto in three years. He then added the Coppa Italia to complete the Double.
Ahead of the new season, Nerazzurri appeared more settled than most of their rival clubs. Conte left Napoli after the end of last season, and Allegri was sacked following a fifth-placed finish with Milan. Still, the club has seen some notable departures, with the exits of Denzel Dumfries, Stefan de Vrij, Yann Sommer, and others leaving San Siro. In terms of incomings, they have been picking and choosing carefully.
Aleksandar Stankovic has been signed to boost the midfield, while John Stones’ arrival from Manchester City could yet turn out to be the signing of the season. But will it be enough? Serie A has seen six different champions in the last six seasons, which means building on success and retaining the Scudetto are as easy as one would think.
Still, Inter come from a position of strength, despite Chivu giving out mixed signals. A few days back, the Romanian said that his side remains the team to beat in Serie A and said they need to let the club’s directors do their job when it comes to signing players in some key areas. However, following a pre-season win over Juventus in Perth, Australia, Chivu said that his team was not ready yet, insisting they need to be sharper.
With their pre-season tour over, the defending side will have little time to get to the levels their coach wants. Their season kicks off on August 22, when they host newly promoted Monza. Since Juventus’ dominant run of nine consecutive league titles, no team has been able to retain the Scudetto.
Inter Milan have been the most successful club in that period with three league titles out of six. Now, their fans will hope they can kick on from here and build a dynasty similar to the one that won five successive league titles between 2006 and 2010. That run also culminated in a Champions League title in the Treble-winning 2010 season.
Another sustained period of dominance at home could help them build another challenge for European glory down the line.
Ruben Amorim seeks redemption with AC Milan
After their struggles last season under Max Allegri, AC Milan made the exciting and bold choice to hire Ruben Amorim. This was a fresh approach from a top Italian club. Instead of going with a familiar big-name coach from the country, they opted for the Portuguese manager desperate to revive his managerial reputation.
While Milan were toiling in the league under Allegri, Amorim was experiencing a miserable spell in charge of Manchester United. He was sacked at the start of this year, having won just 24 of his 63 matches in charge at the Old Trafford club.
At 41, Amorim has a potentially long coaching career ahead of him, but this role at Milan may already be his most pivotal one. He was viewed as one of the finest coaches of the modern generation after winning the Liga Portugal twice with Sporting Lisbon. Now, his standing has taken a tumble after his tenure in Manchester.
Despite this, his stock remains high. Milan’s decision to appoint him may have a lot do with how he developed young talent and improved players during his time in Portugal rather than his struggles at United. His task isn’t easy at San Siro. Rossoneri finished last season in fifth place and scored only 53 goals. This was the lowest tally of any team in the top six.
The big signing of Goncalo Ramos from PSG is their attempt to better that statistic, but there has been little business in terms of strengthening the team across the pitch. As such, a title challenge may be a bridge too far for the team this season, but they will still harbour hopes of returning to the Champions League.
Ancelotti, meanwhile, remains bold as ever. A few days back, he said the aim has to be the Scudetto for a club like Milan, adding that he is also eyeing Europa League success with the team. Some passionate and long-term Milan fans will perhaps be sighing at this statement, but there won’t be much complaining if Amorim delivers a European trophy at the end of the season.
So far, Amorim hasn’t filled sceptical fans with much hope. The club are yet to win a preseason match, having drawn two games before being blanked 3-0 by Chelsea.
His stubborn tactics dominated the headlines during his time at Manchester United, and they have already become a talking point in the Italian press. Following the defeat to Chelsea, many outlets criticised his tactics and the team’s performance in the game. Corriere dello Sport even stated that he could be one of the first managers to be sacked in the Serie A.
Amorim is already feeling the heat with the first game of the season still two weeks away. He will need to shut out the outside noise and try his best to impose his ideas on the pitch. He usually likes to set up a 3-4-2-1, but as proven by his Premier League run, he needs players who can play this system.
Fans want to see progress on the pitch. For years, they have felt their team lacks an identity, and if Amorim can get results under his brand of football, San Siro will be ringing with his name. He will need to hit the ground running and prove that he is the man to deliver long-term success. Milan have taken a gamble on Amorim, some would say, and now he has the opportunity to restore his and this giant club’s reputation.
Como and Cesc Fabregas ready to prove they belong at the top
The fact that Como held on to Cesc Fabregas after the Spaniard took them to Champions League football last season is impressive in itself. The previous campaign saw them score the second-highest number of goals behind only the champions and concede the least number of goals in the league.
The fourth-place finish was achieved on the back of fluid, controlled football, enhancing Fabregas’s reputation as a young coach. Under the former Arsenal midfielder’s guidance, Como dominated possession in the league and made life difficult for their opponents with their high-intensity press, playing a 4-2-3-1.
While they were a breath of fresh air in Italian football last season, they have a big battle on their hands in the 2026/27 campaign. They will be juggling the demands of Champions League football with Serie A commitments, and there remain questions about whether the squad has enough depth to compete on two fronts without being dragged down.
Alvaro Morata’s loan from AC Milan has been made permanent, and he brings valuable experience to a team preparing for their first taste of the continent’s biggest competition. The recent signing of Trevoh Chalobah from Chelsea for 30 million euros shows the club is not taking its seat at the top for granted.
Fabregas will have to manage his squad more carefully than ever. Having taken it from 10th place to fourth in their second season in the top tier, the attention is firmly on Lariani. Teams in Serie A will have done detailed work on Como during the summer, and their playing style won’t catch them by surprise anymore.
Hence, Fabregas will have to ensure that his team isn’t found out this season and can adapt to the expected tactical challenges. So far, he has been up to the task and remains a big part of the club’s ambitions. His vision has shaped the club not only on the pitch, but he has also guided them on recruitment and player development.
This season will be a test of his resolve, and Fabregas will be eager to prove that his coaching success and the club’s model aren’t a flash in the pan.
Gattuso’s last chance with Lazio?
Lazio took a dive into the Italian managerial go-around and appointed Gennaro Gattuso as their new coach ahead of the upcoming season. The club finished a disappointing ninth under Maurizio Sarri in the 2025/26 campaign and has decided to look in a different direction.
The club is in need of fresh ideas, having not progressed much in the league in the last few seasons under the former Napoli manager. In comes Gattuso, whose recent coaching role was Italy’s fateful World Cup qualifying campaign, which ended in a playoff final defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Apart from winning the Coppa Italia with Napoli, Gattuso’s CV as a manager doesn’t quite match his success as a player. Before taking up the national team’s job, he lasted only a season at Croatian club Hajduk Split. The former AC Milan midfielder was also sacked just five months into the job at Marseille in 2024.
In Serie A, he last managed Napoli and finished fifth in his only full season in charge of the team. He also missed out on securing Champions League football with AC Milan in the 2018/19. It can be argued that during both these tenures he wasn’t given enough time to progress and on both occasions, he only missed out on Champions League football by narrow margins.
His subsequent stints with Valencia, Marseille and Hajduk Split did not do him any favours, but he remains a highly regarded name in the country. He will forge dressing room unity and get the players playing for the badge, and Lazio might be more than willing to give him time. The team hasn’t finished in the top four since 2023, with their best position being seventh. It seems both Gattuso and Lazio have met each other at the ideal time.
Gattuso does come in with a fiery reputation from his playing days, and he will take no prisoners. Towards the end of July, it was reported that he kicked out midfielder Kenneth Taylor from a training session. The Dutchman was unhappy at the rebuke from his coach, who responded strongly and ordered him to go off.
Perhaps this is the sort of tough love that Lazio players need, and it will translate into intensity on the pitch. Or perhaps, it will backfire for Gattuso, and he may once again find himself isolated before the season ends. There is scope for improvement for Biancocelesti, and the transfer business hasn’t been eye-catching, with fans already unhappy with club president Claudio Lotito.
Organised fan groups have already made it clear that they will continue boycott the club’s home fixtures, opposing Lotito. The fans have accused him of looking at his own interests over the team’s welfare and want him to sell the club.
It is against this backdrop that Gattuso will take charge of the Rome club this season. He may not be able to control what’s happening off the pitch, but he will understand that a right run of results will placate a frustrated fanbase and get them on his side.
Lazio is the third high-profile club Gattuso will manage in Italy, and he knows that he needs to deliver big time or else it could be his final shot at a club of this size.
Can Gasperini continue AS Roma’s rise?
Last season, Gian Piero Gasperini led AS Roma to their best finish since 2018. Third place secured the capital club a Champions League spot after a gap of eight years. Under Gasperini, Roma played with a flexible approach, and while they would have liked to score more goals, they conceded the second-lowest number of goals in the league.
With the team set to compete on two fronts and the demands of high-quality continental football, the question is whether Gasperini can keep his side moving in the right direction. The 68-year-old manager understands the task ahead and recently expressed frustration with the club’s summer transfer business.
Giallorossi have added Bologna striker Santiago Castro to their ranks in addition to making Donyell Malen’s loan from Aston Villa permanent. But Gasperini wants more options in attack, which is understandable given the team only scored 59 goals last season.
The club remain in the hunt to sign Porto’s 19-year-old winger Rodrigo Mora, seen as the heir apparent to Paulo Dybala. With the possibility of the club needing to sell some of its top talent like Matias Soulé and Manu Koné, Gasperini’s concerns in attack remain valid.
In defence, they have added centre-back Konstantinos Koulierakis and recently signed right-back Nahuel Molina from Atletico Madrid. Slowly, the former Atalanta coach’s vision is taking shape, and he will hope to continue the good work from last season.
For Gasperini, his journey to Roma hasn’t been an easy one. After a successful stint with Genoa, he was appointed as Inter Milan’s manager in June, 2011. But he was sacked in September following a dismal run. This was followed by fruitless spells at Palermo and Genoa, before he rebuilt his managerial credentials with Atalanta.
He led the club to the Europa League title in 2024, only the second major trophy in their history. The opportunity in Rome came soon after, and he delivered in his first season in charge. Now, he is keen to keep his stock high and ensure Roma compete at the highest level for honours. There is a concern that he might be a victim of his own success last season and the third-place finish is already the ceiling.
But Gasp will be keen to prove these assumptions wrong. He has brought an identity to the club that it had been missing for years. Given the upheaval at clubs like AC Milan and Napoli, Roma fans will feel the stability at their club will set them up for more success in the coming season. Scudetto charge? One can dream.
