Whisper it, but some believe José Mourinho’s side could challenge in Serie A after astute recruitment and a fine start
Atalanta were the big winners on transfer deadline day in Italy. Not for any last-minute wheeling and dealing but because, well, they won. They had hoped to balance the books by offloading Jérémie Boga to Leicester and Hans Hateboer to Villarreal but, after both deals collapsed, they had to settle for thumping Torino 3-1 and going joint top of Serie A.
It is the team alongside them in first, however, who might have enjoyed the best summer window overall. Roma landed Paulo Dybala, Andrea Belotti, Georginio Wijnaldum, Zeki Celik, Nemanja Matic and Mady Camara, while spending less than €10m on transfer fees. They offset those arrivals by shedding some costly contracts, as players such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Carles Pérez and Jordan Veretout headed for pastures new.