Football fans love everything about football, and it is not just watching and supporting their favorite teams. They love to get the latest on transfers and the signing of new players.
Twice every year, teams from around the world have the chance to sign the best players in the world. It is the executives and managers who decide what kind of player the team wants and if they can outbid others who want to sign the same.
The Serie A, Calcio, which is Italy’s top flight, is one of the biggest leagues that is affected by players coming in and going out.
Today, we are looking at the 2026 transfers and rumors and what has happened so far.
Confirmed January 2026 Transfers in Serie A
In the January 2026 transfer window, Serie A clubs signed some really amazing top talents. Here’s a list of the signings that were made:
- Kieron Bowie joins Verona from Hibernian for a transfer fee of €6 million on January 30. He’s set to be there until June 2029
- Adrian Przyborek signs for Lazio for a reported €4.5 million from Pogoń Szczecin
- Filip Stojilkovic leaves Krakow to join Pisa for €3 million until 2028
- Leo Østigård signs permanently with Genoa after a loan for €5 million.
- Defender Nesta Elphege signs for Palma until 2029 for about €2 million.
There were loan signings as well.
- Sandro Kulenovic signs at Torino from Dinamo Zagreb for €500,000
- Cyril Ngonge joins Espanyol from Napoli for €2 million
- Luca Marianucci and M’Bala Nzola
- Kenneth Taylor joins Lazio from Ajax for €16.85 million
- Marco Brescianini joins Fiorentina on a six-month loan deal of €2 million with a buy option of €10 million
Contract Extensions and Salary Updates
As transfers were being made, some clubs focused on keeping some of their best players.
For instance, Juventus offered Weston McKennie a new contract which will see him stay at the club until 2029 and in this new deal, he is going to have his salary increase from €2.5 million per annum to €4 million.
Juventus is also negotiating contract talks with Pierre Kalulu to keep him at the club until 2030 and there’s going to be an increase in his salary from the €2.5 million per year that he is currently earning.
Then there’s the Dusan Vlahovic transfer news. The Serbian earns more than the average player at Juventus. He is earning about €22.2 million every year in his contract that runs until 2026.
Kenan Yildiz and Jonathan David earn around €11 million and they’ve got running contracts until 2030.
Clubs like Chelsea and Tottenham have shown interest in Vlahovic. Even Barcelona have made contact to discuss signing the Serbian forward.
Future Market Speculation
As of mid February 2026, during the time we wrote this article, there are some transfer rumors that have been making the rounds.
Among the transfer rumors, there is the idea that Juventus could be working to bring back Federico Chiesa to the club from Liverpool.
Chiesa is on a €6 million per year salary at Liverpool and his contract expires in 2028 but the demand of Liverpool is for €15 million to consider a loan with option to buy. It is believed that the player has decided to take a pay cut if it means coming back to his home country.
Still Juventus have been linked to Youssef En Nesyri of Fenerbahçe as many believe that he could be joining the Serie A on loan with an option to buy.
Other rumors include:
- Nathan Aké or Radu Drăgușin to AC Milan
- Mario Gila to Lazio at €15-20 million
- Tim Iroegbunam to Lazio
Greatest Transfers in Serie A History
The Serie A is one of Europe’s top five leagues, and there have been some names that have changed Calcio forever.
Let’s look at a few of them:
Diego Maradona to Napoli (1984)
Diego Maradona moved from FC Barcelona to Napoli in 1984, and it was a deal that transformed football in Italy.
Then Napoli paid the world record fee of £6.9 million, which is £25 million today.
He helped Napoli to win their first-ever Serie A titles, which they won in 1986-87 and 1989-90. They also won the Coppa Italia in 1987 and the UEFA Cup in 1989.
It was not only trophies that Maradona was winning for Napoli. He was also helping them to become relevant in Europe as well.
Zinedine Zidane to Juventus (1996)
Zinedine Zidane’s move from FC Girondins de Bordeaux to Juventus cost the club €3.5 million in 1996.
That may seem modest, but it held so much value. Zidane was instrumental in Marcello Lippi’s Juventus, which went on to win two Serie A titles and played consecutive Champions League finals.
He won the 1998 Ballon d’Or while he was playing for Juventus, and he actually helped to make Italian football look appealing to Europe and other parts of the world.
Ronaldo to Inter Milan (1997)
Ronaldo joined Inter Milan in 1997 from Barcelona, and it was for a record fee during that time – $27 million, which would be $55 million today.
At the time Ronaldo joined, he was just 20 years old, and he signed a 5-year contract that was worth €4 million net per season.
In his first season at the club, he scored 34 goals, which made him the highest goal scorer and also helped the team win the UEFA Cup. It was here he won the Ballon d’Or, and he became one of the most feared strikers of the Serie A.
Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus (2018)
Ronaldo joined Juventus from Real Madrid in 2018, and the transfer fee was a whopping €100 million plus add-ons, which was the most expensive transfer in Serie A history at the time.
The Portuguese international signed a four-year contract that was valued at €31 million net per season.
At Juventus, Ronaldo won:
- 2x Serie A
- 2x Supercoppa Italiana trophies
- 1x Coppa Italia
For personal records, he scored 101 goals in 134 appearances at the club.
Serie A Transfer and Contract FAQs
- How does the transfer window work in Serie A?
The Serie A transfer window is set by FIGC, the FA in Italy, and there are two windows. The first window is the summer window, which happens in July and August, and the second is the winter window, which happens in January.
- What is the “co-ownership” rule that used to exist in Italy?
There is a co-ownership rule in Italy, which is called compartecipazione, and it means that two teams can hold rights of a player equally. The system was stopped by the FIGC in 2014, and this forced them to resolve their shared ownership.
- Can Serie A clubs sign players on loan with an option or obligation to buy?
Yes, loan deals usually have an option to buy or an obligation to buy, and this is so that Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules are met.
- What is the “Growth Decree” tax benefit in Serie A contracts?
The Decreto Crescita, which is translated as Growth Decree, was started to give foreign players who came to Italy reduced taxes on their income, and this made Serie A attractive.
- How do release clauses work in Italy?
Yes, release clauses are legal in Serie A, and they are set prices of players that if a club meets, could see the player negotiate with the buying club.
- Are swap deals common in Serie A?
Yes, player swap deals can happen, and they sometimes come with cash adjustments, which are very popular in Italy. Clubs like Juventus and Barcelona have done it in the past.
- How long can a Serie A contract last?
FIFA regulations stipulate that the maximum contract length is five years, but there could be national laws that allow other variations. Most of the players in Serie A actually sign 4 to 5 years, such as Paulo Dybala, who joined AS Roma.
- What happens if a player runs down their contract?
A player becomes a free agent when his contract expires,s and he can leave the club without a transfer fee. We see that in the case of Gianluigi Donnarumma, who left AC Milan for free in 2021 and joined PSG.
- Can Serie A clubs negotiate pre-contracts?
Yes, a player can enter into negotiations with a club for a contract if they’ve got six months or less on their present contract.
- How does Financial Fair Play affect Serie A transfers?
Clubs need to follow the UEFA Financial Sustainability rules. Hence, clubs that play in European championships must balance their spending with their revenue.