From Juventus‘ financial irregularities, to another Domenico Criscito return to Genoa, to Napoli playing the best football we’ve seen in recent times – it’s fair to say Serie A had a bit of everything in 2022.

And with the calendar year of Italian football now over, we thought we’d make an XI of the best players to have lit up the peninsula in 2022.

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GK – Mike Maignan – Put simply, AC Milan do not win the 2021/22 Scudetto without this man between the sticks. Maignan has been one of the better signings any Serie A club has made in the last decade.

RB – Giovanni Di Lorenzo – Napoli’s new captain has taken to his new leadership role like a duck to water. One of the most consistent performers in the league.

CB – Gleison Bremer – His performances at Torino earned him the Serie A defender of the year award last season and a move to Juventus. Since joining Juve he’s continued his fine form and made their backline the most impenetrable in Italy – conceding five fewer goals than every other team so far this campaign.

CB – Kim Min-jae – Signed for €18m in the summer as a Kalidou Koulibaly replacement, Kim Min-jae has been imperious at the back for Napoli. He’s been so imperious that half of Naples probably forgets Koulibaly ever existed.

LB – Theo Hernandez – The best attacking left-back in Europe? He’s certainly up there.

CM – Sergej Milinkovic-Savic – The Serbian has been one of the best midfielders in Serie A for nearly 10 years and he’s still (somehow) only 27 years old.

CM – Nicolo Barella – While Inter have endured some up-and-down form over the last 12 months, Barella has been as consistent as they come. The Italy international was brilliant at the end of the 2021/22 campaign but has taken his game to another level this season having already recorded five goals in 15 games.

CM – Sandro Tonali – The Football Manager legend has come good on the ‚wonderkid‘ potential in the last 12 months, proving to be a key man for a Milan side who won their first Scudetto in over a decade.

RW – Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – The funnest footballer to watch in the world. Bar none. It’s not even close.

ST – Victor Osimhen – The league’s current top marksman and last season’s Serie A Best Young Player award winner has certainly enjoyed a very fruitful 2022. Napoli fans will breathe a deep sigh of relief when he finally puts pen to paper on a new deal.

LW – Rafael Leao – While Napoli fans are set to see their star man sign a new deal soon, Milan fans may not be so lucky. Leao looks like he’s going to leave the club sooner rather than later, but no one can deny the lasting legacy he’s left at the club already. He was Serie A’s MVP last season, scoring important goal after important goal for his side on their way to the Scudetto.

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