Serie A Team of the Season so far, starring Lautaro, Soule & Tomori

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 27 Dec 2023 14:24 GMT
• 6 min read

The Italian Serie A has been arguably the most competitive league in Europe over the last few years but one team is threatening to run away with the Scudetto in 2023-24.

Inter have been unstoppable so far this season and are looking good to win their first Scudetto since 2020.

Naturally, the Nerazzurri dominate our Serie A Team of the Season, although Juventus, Milan, Fiorentina, Atalanta, Bologna and little Frosinone are also represented.

Our team lines up in a 4-3-3 formation.

Yann Sommer (Inter)

When Inter sold Andre Onana to Man Utd this past summer and replaced him with a 34-year-old Yann Sommer the overwhelming consensus was that Inter had massively downgraded.

After all, Onana had been arguably the best goalkeeper in the Champions League last season, keeping the most clean sheets in the competition as Inter reached the final.

However, the opposite has been true. Sommer has been the best goalkeeper in Serie A, keeping more clean sheets than anyone else in Europe’s top leagues and conceding just seven league goals from 17 games. Inter are already clear at the top of the table, while Onana has been a disaster for a Man Utd side who have had the worst start to a campaign in over 30 years.

Denzel Dumfries (Inter)

Denzel Dumfries is often unfairly picked upon by Inter fans for his lack of technique and awareness in possession of the ball.

However, what Dumfries lacks in natural talent he makes up for in physical, mental and even defensive qualities.

Dumfries was an assist machine earlier on in the season for club and country with six assists and two goals by the start of October, showing that he can also kick a football.

Bremer (Juventus)

Expectations were low in Turin going into this season, with the majority of supporters totally against manager Max Allegri.

However, in terms of points and numbers, Juventus have performed generally well so far this term - even if they remain four points behind leaders Inter.

The main reason has been a mean defence that has conceded only 11 goals in 17 games (four of them in one match). The undoubted star of the backline has been Brazilian centre back Bremer, whose pace, aggression and duel-winning both aerially and on the food have been mightily impressive.

Fikayo Tomori (Milan)

Fikayo Tomori has been the only consistent bright spot this season for a Milan team who have been desperately disappointing.

By Christmas they are already out of the Champions League and as good as out of the Scudetto race, sitting 11 points behind Inter.

Tomori has produced a number of brilliant performances at the back, particularly in the Champions League matches versus Newcastle.

He is now out injured for two months and Milan will miss him badly.

Federico Dimarco (Inter)

Federico Dimarco has probably already won the Puskas Award for next year with a truly sensational lob from the halfway line against Frosinone in November.

This is not the first time and won’t be the last time he scores a wondergoal as Dimarco now boasts arguably the best left foot in European football.

He may lack pace and dribbling ability but Dimarco’s use of the ball, his progressive passing, crosses and set-pieces are simply world class. He has three goals and five assists in 2023-24 from left wing-back.

Hakan Calhanoglou (Inter)

Hakan Calhanoglu has comfortably been the best midfielder in Serie A this season, running the show in almost every game he has played.

Ever since being moved by Simone Inzaghi into a deep-lying position, Calhanoglu has been a revelation and arguably an upgrade on the departed Marcelo Brozovic.

His passing, long-range shooting, penalties and set-pieces are as good as it gets and he has seven goals and three assists so far in 2023-24.

Ederson (Atalanta)

Big things were expected of Ederson when he joined Atalanta from Salernitana in the summer of 2022 for €21 million but he had a rather underwhelming first season in Bergamo, with just one goal and one assist as Atalanta finished fifth.

This season, Ederson has finally exploded for the Bergamo side.

A box to box midfielder, Ederson has scored an impressive five goals in all competitions already this season. He has also provided one assist.

The 24-year-old has excelled with his late runs into the box and his driving runs forward. But he has also been exceptional from a defensive point of view. He ranks fifth for all players in Serie A for the average number of tackles per game with 2.7. He is joint-ninth when it comes to number of interceptions per game with 1.5.

Giacomo Bonaventura (Fiorentina)

Giacomo Bonaventura has been one of the renaissance stories of 2023. Last season he led Fiorentina to the final of the Conference League, scoring in the final in a heartbreaking defeat to West Ham.

This term, he has continued to shine in his attacking midfield position. He has six goals and two assists in Serie A as Fiorentina surprisingly challenge for a Champions League place.

So good has his form been that he has earned a recall after years away to the Italy national team. He even scored on his return with a brilliant goal in the 4-0 win over Malta.

Matias Soule (Frosinone)

Matias Soule has been the joint-biggest breakout star in Serie A so far this season.

The 20-year-old right winger was loaned out to Frosinone from Juventus this past summer after struggling to find space in Turin but has been unstoppable in the opening months of the season.

He is averaging the most dribbles a game in Serie A by some distance, 4.7 per match, with the next most being Lecce’s Lameck Banda with 2.7 per game.

He has contributed six goals and one assist for a newly-promoted side who had been tipped to go straight back down but have been one of the most exciting sides in the division.

Lautaro Martinez (Inter)

Lautaro Martinez has finally exploded into the world class attacker that everyone has long expected him to be.

This season, the Argentine has been unstoppable with 15 goals in 16 Serie A games, making him the league’s top scorer and a shoe-in to win the Capocannoniere crown.

His partnership with Marcus Thuram has been almost telepathic at times as Inter have scored a brilliant 41 goals in just 17 games.

Inter are thus strong favourites to not only win Serie A but also look like a real challenger for the Champions League.

Joshua Zirkzee (Bologna)

Together with Soule, Zirkzee has been the biggest breakout star in Serie A this season.

Standing at 6ft 4in, Zirkzee is a giant of a striker who is finally living up to the promise he showed as a teenager at Bayern Munich.

He has scored seven Serie A goals but it is his overall play that has tied everything together so perfectly for Thiago Motta’s side. He is strong at protecting the ball with his back to play, but he is also excellent technically, boasting quick feet and able to move out of tight spaces.

Due to his blend of height, strength and technique, Zirkzee has been compared by some - prematurely, admittedly - to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Subsequently, Bologna are sitting in fourth place in what has become the fairytale story in Italian football in 2023-24.