Loanee reports: Serie A

Cristiano Biraghi (Inter Milan)

The 27-year-old leftback hasn’t quite set the world alight thus far, making just a single appearance for his boyhood club in this, his third stint. He did at least assist the only goal in the Biscione’s win over Lazio with a typically excellent cross to the back post for Danilo D’Ambrosio to head home.

That said, he’s yet to unseat Kwadwo Asamoah from the starting XI. It’s a long season, especially with the Nerazzuri competing on three fronts, but it seems that Antonio Conte trusts Kwadwo Asamoah a lot more than the Viola loanee. Hopefully Biraghi can change his mind; it’d be a real gut punch for the guy to join Inter for the third time—and this time in the prime of his career—only to be frozen out for the third time. At least he’s finally made his senior debut for Inter.

Riccardo Saponara (Genoa)

The 27-year-old trequartista has been outside the XI for the past couple of weeks, but that didn’t stop him from getting sent off and subsequently suspended for shouting blasphemies (Serie A, y'all) just before halftime against AC Milan, which means he’ll be in the stands when league play resumes in 10 days. While red cards are certainly out of character for the Cheese, getting sent off for blasphemy just makes him that much cooler.

Giovanni Simeone (Cagliari)

The 24-year-old Argentine remains a locked-in starter for the Isolani, which is no surprise given that he’s got minimal competition for a spot up top following Leonardo Pavoletti’s season-ending knee injury. With 2 goals in 6 appearances, Cholito is doing just fine, thanks, although he hasn’t scored since last time we ran this feature. He’s clearly getting the hang of Rolando Maran’s attacking plans, as his off-ball movement has been pretty good, but the finishing remains iffy, with big misses against Hellas Verona and Roma costing the Sardinians points. Still and all, he seems to be enjoying life on the island and will get plenty of chances on goal this year, which will be just what he wants.

Jordan Veretout (AS Roma)

The 26-year-old French midfielder has firmly established himself in Paulo Fonseca’s midfield, even getting a run as the playmaker in the 4-2-3-1 after spending most of the year in the double pivot; that experiment failed to pay dividends, though, so expect to see him deployed deeper, as he has been for most of his career. He’s now started 5 straight league matches and, aside from a loose pass that let Atalanta in for a goal, has looked tailor-made for the Giallorossi. Of these four players, he’s certainly enjoyed the most success thus far and could even earn his debut for France if he keeps this up.