Calcio Debate: Has Serie A Overtaken The Premier League Again As English Sides Struggle In Manchester City's Summer Transfer Window?

As the world continues to readjust to the reality of a global financial recovery, so the football planet – with one notable exception – is slowly retreating to square one. And as clubs across the globe stand poised on the starting blocks, it’s fair to say that the Italian top flight is looking in much better shape than many onlookers might have forecast.

In the last four years a lot has been said about the so-called demise of Calcio. An already overlooked brand of football was hit by one of the biggest scandals to hit the sport in recent times, relegating its most famous club, stripping the game of much of its commercial credibility and further reducing its perceptions amongst everyday followers around the world.

Over in the Premier League, it was supposed that the game was flourishing. Liverpool and Manchester United picked up Champions League triumphs amidst a stretch of five successive years of English representation in Europe’s big final. They’d also managed to take three-quarters of the semi-final spots in three straight seasons. Add to that another TV deal raking in well in excess of €1 billion, and all signs pointed to EPL domination. But now football seems to have been turned back on its head.

After losing the game’s biggest icon in Cristiano Ronaldo last summer, along with one of the main catalysts behind the previous season’s neck-and-neck title race in Xabi Alonso, the Premier League has been further struck this summer in the transfer market. Not only are the league’s best players once again being linked with big-money moves abroad - Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano and Cesc Fabregas are certain to leave sooner rather than later, while the futures of Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole are also precarious - but the biggest clubs in England are also struggling to make their presence felt in the chase for the market’s major talents.

Honda | Milan link

Other than the obvious exception of Abu Dhabi representatives Manchester City, EPL clubs have had little say as names such as Mesut Oezil, Edin Dzeko, Luis Fabiano, Ronaldinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Keisuke Honda, David Villa, Milos Krasic, etc have publicly weighed up their futures. Meanwhile, the supposedly second rate Serie A has thrown many irons into the fire, with even the newly cautious Milan making moves on Honda in a bid to aid the club’s continued appeal during an apparent low point in their recent history. They even had Luis Fabiano courting them through the media for parts of the summer before he decided to stay with Sevilla.

While England’s ‘big four’ have been collecting players such as Marouane Chamakh, Laurent Koscielny and the promising but unproven Javier Hernandez and Milan Jovanovic, and passing the likes of Joe Cole and Yossi Benayoun between themselves, Inter have spent the summer holding steadfastly onto their Champions League-winning squad. Whilst Mario Balotelli has virtually secured his big-money transfer to Eastlands and Maicon looks likely to eventually seal a deal with Real Madrid, Diego Milito, Wesley Sneijder et al should be joined shortly by Mascherano as well as another big name who will be bought with the Balotelli cash.

Chamakh | The big four's biggest import

Juventus, meanwhile, remain interested in Krasic after mopping up some of the Italian league’s greatest talent earlier in the summer under their new, more convincing management set-up. Further down the pecking order only Simon Kjaer and Aleksandar Kolarov have exchanged Serie A for foreign riches, whilst Edinson Cavani, Gaetano D’Agostino and new Juve pair Jorge Martinez and Leonardo Bonucci remain on the peninsula after big moves – and not one of them cost close to what Aston Villa want for James Milner.

But what can we gather from the moving and shaking of this summer’s transfer window? Does this really mean that Serie A is back up there as a front runner in the European game? Perhaps the world’s best players believe there is a greater chance of gaining trophies if they ply their trade on the peninsula? It’s hard to come up with another reason, what with the greater riches on offer in England and Spain – though there is always the great food, fine wine and attractive lifestyle of course! Football-wise though, it appears that Italy has suddenly becoming more appealing once more.

But then there’s Manchester City, the club who are doing their damnedest to hoover up the biggest names from the Premier League and well beyond, but seemingly remain short of the level necessary to attract the very best world football has to offer. Whilst they cannot possibly sign all of the Goal.com 50, no matter how hard they try, their pursuit of the best is simply stifling the rest of the Premier League, rather than bringing about the kind of wealth distribution their big spending could otherwise offer. Their rivals are instead using the transfer fees to balance their ever-increasing deficits.

All the while, the remainder of the Premier League is simultaneously becoming a less attractive proposition for those who want both success and a comfortable living. As Barcelona and Real Madrid continue to almost exclusively rule the roost in Spain, it’s Serie A which is beginning to bear the fruit. Now it’s time for Italian teams to come through on the pitch by gaining results to prove it.