Amrabat leaving Fiorentina is the biggest deal on quiet transfer deadline day in Italy
Fiorentina's Sofyan Amrabat, left, competes for the ball with Juventus' Alvaro Morata during the Serie A soccer match between Juventus and Fiorentina, at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020. Manchester United seems like the likely destination for Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat. The English club is reportedly set to pay 10 million euros ($11 million) for an initial loan deal with an option to buy the Morocco international for a further 20 million euros ($22 million). Credit: AP/Fabio Ferrari
MILAN — With the top Serie A teams having already completed most of their transfer business, the biggest move of Friday's deadline day in Italy was a player leaving the country.
Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat flew to England to undergo a medical with Manchester United, which is reportedly set to pay 10 million euros ($11 million) for an initial loan deal and an option to buy the Morocco international for a further 20 million euros ($22 million).
Amrabat was largely off the radar outside Italy before an outstanding World Cup. He was one of the players of the tournament, the shield for a Moroccan defense that didn’t concede a goal by an opposition player until the semifinals.
The 27-year-old Amrabat didn’t feature in any of Fiorentina’s four matches this season after demanding a transfer.
Another high-profile exit was Leonardo Bonucci's move to Union Berlin after more than 500 appearances for Juventus. The highly decorated defender was told by Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri that he didn't feature in their plans for this season and was excluded from preseason training.
Serbia striker Luka Jovic made a late move to AC Milan, where he’ll back up Olivier Giroud at center forward.
Also, Fiorentina signed midfielder Maxime Lopez on loan from Sassuolo.
Morocco's Sofyan Amrabat during the International friendly soccer match between Morocco and Peru at the Civitas Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Manchester United seems like the likely destination for Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat. The English club is reportedly set to pay 10 million euros ($11 million) for an initial loan deal with an option to buy the Morocco international for a further 20 million euros ($22 million). Credit: AP/Manu Fernandez
Colombia striker Duvan Zapata left Atalanta for Torino in a loan deal that has an option to become permanent.
Total spending in Serie A for the summer period was 848 million euros ($913 million), to rate a distant second behind the 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion) of the Premier League — but slightly ahead of the 846 million euros ($911 million) that the emerging Saudi league splashed out on players including Neymar, according to transfermarkt.com.
Both Milan teams had a busy window.
Davy Klaassen flew into the Italian city for a medical at Inter ahead of a potential free move from Ajax.
Inter already signed Benjamin Pavard, Marcus Thuram and Yann Sommer.
City rival AC Milan was even busier in the offseason. The Rossoneri splashed the cash to bring in more than 10 new players, including United States internationals Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah.
The most high-profile move was Romelu Lukaku's loan from Chelsea to Roma.
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Dampf reported from Rome.
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