Football Season Guide

Last season, at the 3rd time of asking, Parma succeeded finishing at the top of the Serie B, thus earning themselves a highly-yearned-for promotion to the first flight of the Italian football. There was hardly any doubt that they would have made it in the end, as they immediately set their foot on the first place and, bar a couple of weeks in November, would not quit it anymore. Truth be said, they made their life a little difficult towards the end of the campaign, as they slowed their rhythm down, picking up only 2 wins out of the last 8, but such was the advantage that they had accumulated that they managed to close 3 points clear at the top anyway. Fabio Pecchia, who led them in their last 2 seasons, was confirmed at the head of the team. He has a limited Serie A experience as head coach, though, as he only was at the helm of Hellas Verona when they were relegated to the Serie B in 2017/2018. Parma, who held the second-best attack and the second-best defence of the Serie B last season, have hardly been active during the transfer campaign. Relying on a rather young squad, the age average is 24.6, they opted to maintain its back-bone untouched, while injecting more talent in certain areas. First of all, they decided for a change in goal, where 22-year-old Suzuki, coming off a great season at Sint-Truiden, is set to replace 33-year-old Chichizola. Then, in came Valeri, who faced relegation from the Serie A with Frosinone, and he is set to replace an erratic Di Chiara at left-back. Parma, whose budget is rather limited, are still trying to get a few players on loan from big clubs. They are currently looking for experience at centre-back, where starting Circati is only 19, on the wings, in the midfield and up-front, where their striker, Bonny, capable of 8 goals and 10 assists, is 19 too. In terms of departures, they only saw bit-time players leaving, as they held onto their young stars.