Football Season Guide

Judging them only by the results, last season was a positive one for Parma as they managed to build on the good done the previous campaign, finishing 11th without ever really being involved in the fight for salvation. However, the management were not too happy for the way things actually went as they eventually parted ways with coach D’Aversa, who had led them all the way up to the Serie A from the Lega Pro in just 3 years. It is true that the team underperformed once the season re-started after the Covid-19 break but the coach had had to cope with an unaccountable number of injuries that anyway plagued the squad most of the campaign. With D’Aversa sacked, the management gave the reins to Fabrizio Liverani, who had just achieved relegation with Lecce in the very last game of the season, after a very mixed campaign. So far, Parma have been one of the least active clubs in the market both in terms of acquisitions or sales. In fact, they mostly invested in turning into permanent deals the loans of players like Sepe, Pezzella, Hernani, Inglese or Kurtic, while also seeing a bunch of loanees returning from seasons elsewhere, most of whom are unlikely to find playing chances at the club. On the other hand, they only lost versatile midfielder Barillà, who had begun the past campaign as a starter but saw his playing time reduced from mid-January, and, most of all, rising star Kulusevski, who returned to Juventus, his parent club. Barely 20-years old, the Swedish international scored 10 goals and served 9 assists in the past campaign, while proving capable of playing all roles in the midfield or attack. His departure will cost Parma a lot, especially if they do not manage to replace him properly. And if they also end up losing Gervinho, who was still capable of scoring 7 goals and serving 4 assists despite at one point considering quitting the club. He might very well do it this time around, and not too surprisingly, the management are now mostly looking for centre-forwards or wingers also to build some depth in an attack where Cornelius and Inglese can be impressive but are always too injury-prone.