Summary: Lost against a landscape of big money transfers that have happened and the promise of huge flashy transfers that failed to materialize, an arms race has gone on in Serie A quite like no other top level European league where clubs have used foreign cash for a couple of marquee stars to fuel the arrival of a new quality signings that may have just turned Italy into the most compelling race in 2013-14. There is now a logjam of teams at the top of the pack all fighting for the three lucrative Champions League slots, but even more importantly a number of recognizable names in the sport who have all come together in places such as Fiorentina, Napoli and Roma where the secret might not yet be public, but the balance of power does appear on the verge of shifting for a number of reasons. Joining Anto for a discussion into what has begun to take place is Janusz Michallik of ESPN FC who helps dissect many of the key moves in terms of players and managers arriving in new destinations, why the net transfer spend will appear so deceptive given several key factors and whether some late moves the biggest clubs could turn everything into more chaos knowing just how valuable that European TV money is to Serie A clubs who now split a market pool as a bigger percentage of their turnover. Yes, the marketplace is beginning to alter conventional wisdom in Italy, but so are the ways that patron-sponsored clubs now approach the first edge of FFP break-even and these new realities are no better exemplified than the odd transfer moves and decisions being made at AC Milan where delays in securing Honda with sponsors and Champions League qualification seems to have bogged them down temporarily. With one month still to go in the summer transfer period we look at all the big movers in Serie A, decide on a provisional winner and look to what could be the most intriguing domestic title battle in 2013-14.
