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Edinson Cavani

The Uruguayan center forward, long rumored to be on the move from Napoli, has finally completed a transfer: to Paris-Saint Germain. The leading scorer in Serie A last season, Cavani joins the Ligue 1 side after they ponied up a reported €64 million ($84 million) transfer fee.

Thiago (Alcantara)

The Barcelona winger was supposedly headed to Manchester United, but in fact joins German champions Bayern Munich for a new four year deal and a reported €25 million ($32.8 million) transfer fee. The move unites Thiago with his former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola.

Alvaro Negredo

The former Sevilla striker has joined Manchester City for a reported £20 million ($30.5 million) transfer fee.

Stevan Jovetic

In addition to Negredo, Manchester City have also procured the services of former Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic. The transfer fee is a reported €23 million ($30.2 million).

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

The highly sought after Shakhtar Donetsk attacking midfielder joins Borussia Dortmund for a reported €27.5 million ($36 million) transfer fee. Dortmund were able to beat out Liverpool, who were very much interested in the midfielder’s services.

Pepe Reina

The Liverpool goalkeeper is on his way to Napoli for a season long loan after the former went out and bought Belgian international Simon Mignolet.

Kevin Strootman

The PSV/Netherlands central midfielder joins AS Roma in Serie A for the next four years.

Jose Callejon

The highly scrutinized Real Madrid youth product has completed a permanent move to Napoli. Callejon has been the subject of several loan deals ever since coming out of the youth ranks in Madrid.

Oriol Romeu

The 21 year old Chelsea holding midfielder will join Valencia on loan for the upcoming season. Romeu came to London via Barcelona last summer.

Victor Wanyama

The central midfielder who helped Celtic advance from the group stage during the UEFA Champions League last season has joined Sunderland for a reported £12.5 million ($19 million) transfer fee believed to be a club record.

Jozy Altidore

And staying in England, Sunderland have purchased AZ Alkmaar striker Jozy Altidore and signed him to a four year deal.

Giovanni dos Santos

The Mexican international has completed a four year move from Mallorca to newly promoted Villareal in Spain.

Silvio

The Atletico Madrid defender joins Portugal’s Benfica on loan after spending 2011-12 on loan at Deportivo.

Gerard Deulofeu

After an impressive performance at the U-20 World Cup for Spain, the young forward joins Everton on loan from Barcelona.

Carlos Bacca

The former Club Brugge striker joins Sevilla for a new five year deal and a reported €7 million ($9 million) transfer fee.

Joel Robles

The Atletico goalkeeper who spent last season on loan at Wigan is returning to England after joining Everton to sign a five year deal.

Marcus Berg

The Swedish international striker moves to Panathanaikos (Greece) from Hamburg and signs a new four year deal.

Giorgos Karagounis

And speaking of Greece, the veteran Greek center back has signed a new one year extension to remain at Fulham.

Martin Olsson

The Swedish defender completes a four year move from Blackburn to Norwich City.

Grant Holt

And last but not least (for now) the former Norwich super sub has completed a three year move to Wigan Athletic.

Calcio is well known for producing top quality mangers, with the generation including the likes of Sacchi, Lippi, Capello, and Ancelloti passing the torch to the current crop of elite managers in Serie A. Conte at Juventus, Mazzarri at Napoli and now Inter, Montella at Fiorentina, and to a lesser extent Allegri at Milan, all have received accolades for the jobs they have done over the last season, and not without good reason.

However, a manager closer in age to the previous generation, Francesco Guidolin, does not always get the credit he deserves for the incredible job he has done at Udinese. Yes, his name is usually mentioned in the conversation regarding manager of the year, but if you compare what he has achieved relative to the resources at his disposal, it becomes obvious how underrated he still is as a manager.

Guidolin has led Udinese to 4th, 3rd, and 5th place finishes in the last three seasons, after the club finished 15th the year prior to his arrival. The team has consistently been in the top five despite losing players such as Sanchez, Inler, Zapata, Asamoah, and Handanovíc during this time.

Udinese’s wage bill at the beginning of this season according to Gazzeta dello Sport was just over 21 million euros, the joint 6th lowest in the division and far behind the figures spent by Milan (120), Juventus (115), Inter (100), and even Roma (95). Likewise, a study done by Cantennacio.nl from 2001 to 2011shows that Udinese have had the greatest positive net transfer balance while Juventus, Napoli, and Fiorentia made up the top three in the opposite category.

While Conte has been instrumental turning Juventus back into one of Europe’s top clubs, he has also had the most talented and well balanced squad in Serie A to work with. Likewise, though Napoli’s squad is not as complete as Juve’s, it is full of experience and Mazzarri has been able to rely on the league’s best goal scorer, Edison Cavani.

Montella’s situation is slightly different in that Fiorentina experienced a huge turnover in the players in the offseason and the manager deserves much praise for creating an attractive, attacking side. However, he was not exactly starting from scratch. While Borja Valero may have been unproven in Serie A, he was clearly a quality player having already been capped by Spain. Similarly, David Pizzaro, who started his career at Udinese under another often overlooked manager in Luciano Spalleti, was an additional proven player at Montella’s disposal.

Apart from the evergreen Di Natale, Guidolin has had to build his squad each year from a relatively unproven group of players. While credit must also go to Udinese’s excellent scouting network in South America, the speed at which Guidolin has been able to develop potential into real ability is extraordinary. This, coupled with his ability to set his side up to absorb pressure and play effective on the counter attack, has turned Udinese into a very difficult team to beat, home or away.

In time when Serie A’s profile globally is waning and even the top clubs struggle to compete economically with Europe’s other big spenders, it is important for Italian football to recognize and continue to develop managers like Guidolin who are not only adept at the tactical side of the game, but are also able to coach and develop younger players.

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