Serie A’s Best Veteran Signings… And is Robert Lewandowski About to Be the Next?

Robert Lewandowski is arguably the best goalscorer of his era, and there’s a really actual probability that he could possibly be strutting his stuff in Serie A subsequent season. If the hearsay mill is to be believed, Italian giants Juventus have made the Polish legend their primary goal this summer time. And along with his Barcelona contract set to run out on June thirtieth, there’s a really actual probability that the Bianconeri might get their man.

The previous Bayern Munich man remains to be scoring objectives on the highest stage. He’s hit 17 thus far in Catalonia this season, even supposing he’s receiving far much less enjoying time than in latest campaigns. That haul of objectives is way over the very best any Juve participant has made this time period, and there may be an argument to be made that Lewandowski can be an enormous step up from the membership’s present strikers, regardless of his advancing years.

Lewa turns 38 in August, however Serie A has by no means shied away from signing a grizzled veteran. Simply final summer time, Milan snapped up 40-year-old Luke Modric, Napoli added 33-year-old Kevin De Bruyne, and newly promoted Cremonese pulled off arguably the coup of the switch window by tempting 39-year-old English legend Jamie Vardy to Lombardy. May Lewandowski be set to comply with them?

Juve High 4 Spot All However Secured

After the 2-0 win at house to Bologna, Juventus have solidified their place in fourth place, with their five-point buffer to Como prompting on-line betting websites to put in them as a transparent 1/9 favorite to safe a spot in subsequent season’s Champions League. The favored no vig honest calculator at Thunderpick means that their true odds with out the bookmaker’s edge lie nearer to 1/7, however nonetheless, it could be an almighty shock in the event that they had been to break down now and give up their spot within the high 4.

However whereas Champions League qualification is all however secured, Juve stay a whopping 15 factors behind table-topping Inter. One has to really feel that the potential signing of Lewandowski would assist bridge that hole considerably and convey the Bianconeri nearer to Scudetto rivalry subsequent time period.

So, with Serie A golf equipment by no means shy to herald veteran superstars, which ones have managed to signal the very best of them over time? Let’s have a look.

Andrea Pirlo Swaps Milan for Turin

Andrea Pirlo was the best deep-lying playmaker Italian soccer had ever seen. He claimed two Champions League crowns with Milan, in addition to two Serie A titles as effectively. His set-piece mastery and talent to manage video games in midfield made him priceless to the Rossoneri, however by the point the summer time of 2011 rolled round, he was 31 years of age, and the San Siro membership was about to do the unthinkable. Permit their once-prized asset to go away on a free switch.

Milan thought Pirlo’s greatest days had been behind them. Juventus had been satisfied that they had been flawed. The Bianconeri and Antonio Conte swooped, signing the deep-lying playmaker for completely nothing, and he would go on to play his greatest soccer in Turin. Pirlo helped his new workforce declare 4 straight Scudetto, twice the quantity he claimed in Milan. He would additionally assist the membership attain the 2015 UEFA Champions League last and lead Italy to the ultimate of Euro 2012.

Luca Toni’s Late Profession Renaissance

Luca Toni was 35 years of age by the point he returned to Italy in the summertime of 2012 after an ill-fated stint with Al Nasr within the UAE. Many thought the powerhouse striker’s greatest days had been effectively behind him. He was a towering presence in Italy’s well-known 2006 World Cup last, whereas his peak got here between 2003 and 2009 throughout goal-laden stints with Palermo, Fiorentina, and Bayern Munich. By the point 2012 rolled round, he hadn’t hit the double-digit objectives mark in a single season for the reason that 2008/09 marketing campaign.

Fiorentina had been the primary to tug the set off, bringing their former goal man house on a free switch on switch deadline day. He would go on to internet a modest eight objectives within the 2013/13 season, however it was the transfer from the Viola to Hellas Verona the place he would actually return to his devastating greatest.

The newly promoted Gialloblu tempted Toni to Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi, and what an impressed resolution it proved to be for each events. The towering striker would internet 20 league objectives in his first season with the membership on the age of 37, his greatest tally since 2007/08. The next season, he would go two higher, bagging 22 objectives on the age of 38 to assert a share of the Capocannoniere title alongside Inter hitman Mauro Icardi, 9 years on from when he first received the award with Fiorentina.

Toni introduced the curtain down on his profession after hitting seven objectives within the 2016/17 season, and with it, ended among the finest late-career renaissances Italian soccer had ever seen.