The Serie A transfer market has been pretty disappointing so far this summer.

Italy used to attract the best players in the world, but due to the lack of cash in the league among many teams, it’s turning into a sad summer transfer window.

This year, the only top player coming from abroad has been bought by FC Juventus, as Alvaro Morata joined the Bianconeri for €22million from Real Madrid.

On the other hand, AS Roma, Juventus’ main rivals, are making the best of the transfer market so far, having welcomed on board one of the most interesting players of last year’s championship, former Porto striker Manuel Iturbe.

Since Serie A clubs have no more money to spend, also because of the recession in Italy, the few players that the clubs can afford are the ones arriving on free transfers via the Bosman ruling. In other words, players at the end of their contracts, available to move for free.

Most of the times, those players have an important international pedigree, but are not that young anymore, so that Spanish and English teams can afford to let these players go for free, and investing in new talents instead — just like Manchester United have done with Luke Shaw, who has arrived at Old Trafford, replacing Patrice Evra who has joined FC Juventus for €1m.

The French left back is not the only former Red Devil who has joined the old Serie A. Nemanja Vidic joined FC Internazionale a couple of months ago after that his contract with Manchester United expired.

Another player who arrived on a free transfer was former Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita, who joined AS Roma. AC Milan has been adopting the “free agent technique” for many years, but with mixed results. But the agreement with Alex and Jeremy Menez, both from PSG, represent two quality signings.

The last vintage deal in Serie A has been placed in the last hours by Verona. The Gialloblu that last year were the real Italian surprise, signed a deal with former NY Red Bulls player and Mexico national team captain Rafa Marquez.

All these players will definitely play a good championship in the upcoming season as they are better than the average Serie A players, there is no doubt about it. The only problem is that the acquisitions are not a good sign for Italian football. If MLS is growing thanks to older players finishing their career in the US, the trend is opposite in Italy where teams are buying older players since they can’t afford current top players anymore.