​Thus far, 2026 has been chastening for the fallen giants of world football. For Italy, it has been the year of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bodo/Glimt, the Balkan team meaning a third consecutive World Cup took place without the Azzurri, the Norwegian side eliminating Internazionale from the Champions League. There were other indications of decline – a Champions League table with the reigning Scudetto winners Napoli in 30th or Italy’s sole representatives in the last 16, Atalanta, going down 10-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich – and they combined to paint a bleak picture. So if Serie A returns with the sense its best days are behind it, some of its historic forces have the same feel. And yet that provided some of the drama last season: two of Italy’s three most decorated clubs, AC Milan and Juventus, spurned promising positions to miss out on Champions League qualification. They will instead be the biggest clubs in the Europa League after being leapfrogged by Cesc Fabregas’ insurgents from Como. The third of Italy’s traditional powers, Inter, cruised to their 21st Scudetto in Cristian Chivu’s first campaign in charge; equalling his predecessor Simone Inzaghi’s total of Serie A titles was at least compensation for faring far worse in Europe. His rivals this year are set to be a mixture of the familiar, with Serie A’s capacity to recycle its managers, and an intriguing newcomer. A division where clubs have been starved of funds features two expensive arrivals from Paris St-Germain, charged with bringing goals to the underachievers, and a further influx of English defenders. Chivu will share San Siro with Ruben Amorim who, in the way Serie A’s fortunes have nosedived, seemed the man AC Milan ended up with rather than perhaps wanted, given interest in Oliver Glasner and Andoni Iraola. It is nevertheless an opportunity the Portuguese did not earn with his wretched spell in charge of Manchester United. He will presumably import his flagship 3-4-3; whether Luka Modric, who turns 41 next month, wants to be in a central-midfield duo remains to be seen but Milan have backed Amorim by allowing him to make the biggest signing in the Serie A summer: his fellow Portuguese Goncalo Ramos for a club record €74m (£63.3m). It at least should ensure wingers Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic are no longer an ersatz strike duo, even if Amorim’s record with centre-forwards was better in Portugal than England. Goncalo Ramos is the big-money signing of the summer (Reuters)Randal Kolo Muani spearheads a new-look Juventus attack (Getty)Ramos was liberated from the PSG bench. He used to be joined there, before an unsuccessful loan at Tottenham, by Randal Kolo Muani, who has returned to Juventus, another to borrow him before. A potential €50m (£42.8m) fee means he has to spearhead a new-look attack, with the younger talents of Kenan Yildiz and Kerim Alajbegovic, a €32m (£27.4m) arrival from Bayer Leverkusen. Luciano Spalletti, who walked