Serie A Transfer Deadline Day 2012: The Final Buys And Sales Of Summer

It’s buon giorno to some familiar faces and Arrivederci to others. Serie A has been just as busy as Loftus Road and White Hart Lane on transfer deadline day. While the Italian window shut at 18:00 GMT for foreign players coming in, it remained open until 23:00 GMT for players to move abroad.

The 35-year-old previously played for the Viola between 2005 and 2007, where he scored a remarkable 47 goals in 67 appearances, making him a firm favourite with the fans, and with just minutes remaining of the Italian transfer window, the club have moved to bring him back to Italy.

Arsenal have long given up on Bendtner and didn’t even seriously consider bringing him back after selling van Persie. The 24-year-old has spent much of the summer trying to find a new home and while it took until the final day of the transfer window, he’s found one in Turin.

Bendtner spent last season on loan with Sunderland, where he scored eight goals. So to confirm, the defending Sere A champions and one of the biggest clubs in the world signed a Sunderland reject. Cool.

And no, I’m not really sure how replacing a right-back with a left-back works, but you know...Genoa must know what’s going on.

This is a bit of an unusual move for Manchester City, but then again, most defensive signings aren’t really very sexy. Maicon is a fairly well-known name, having been an integral part of the nerazzurri lineup for the past six seasons. Most importantly, he has Champions League experience.

On the other hand, Maicon, like many on Inter, is aging. Now 31, the Brazilian just hasn’t looked quite right over the past year -- sad for a player who once was nominated for the Ballon d’Or. But it may just be all the recent changes at Inter, the managerial shifts, the decline in power to the point where they need to qualify not for Champions League play but for Europa.

Del Piero spent 19 years with Juventus, but his deal expired after last season and the club chose not to renew it as the 37-year-old saw his role in the team diminish. He did say after last season that he would not retire, but most people expected him to move to MLS or Qatar, not Australia.

Seeing Del Piero in any shirt except the Juventus black and white was always going to be odd, but seeing him in a Sydney FC shirt? That’s going to be shocking.

Milan lost Mark van Bommel to PSV over the summer and needed a replacement. They did well to find as much of a van Bommel clone as possible, getting his Netherlands international midfield partner. de Jong is as much the hard-tackling, tough defensive midfielder that van Bommel is, but at 27 years old he is also younger and a bit more capable in the final third.

The two clubs confirmed the deal in short statements on their official websites. Cassano has signed a two-year deal until July 2014.

It’s also understood that €7m will be paid to Inter as part of the deal. If you think that makes the deal seem one-sided, you wouldn’t be alone. Francesco Coco, who has played for both clubs, joined the increasing number of voices questioning the move, telling Radio Mana Mana: “It would have been fairer without the money. Milan are the losers here because they have to put their hand in their pocket. It’s a swap deal which is totally in Inter’s favour.”