Women's Serie A 2024/25 preview: An unpredictable title race awaits as four teams look to push champions AS Roma
The 2024/25 Women's Serie A season is almost upon us and as has commonly been the case in Italian women's football in recent years, there are plenty of changes to look forward to.
The transfer window has been extremely busy for many of the teams, there is a new derby to enjoy with Lazio gaining promotion from Serie B, the likes of Juventus, Inter, AC Milan and more have a new coach and there is a format change coming in 2025/26 which impacts how this season will pan out.
The first weekend of action starts on Friday, August 30 with Fiorentina vs Napoli Femminile and the Rome derby between Lazio and AS Roma.
The summer's biggest Women's Serie A transfers
The turnover of players is always very high in women's football with transfer fees playing almost no role, especially in a league like Italy's Women's Serie A. It is also hard to judge the arrival of players from other leagues with knowledge and coverage not being as widespread as the men's game.
In terms of the two biggest teams in the league that we expect to be fighting for the title, there has been a massive turnover of personnel at Juventus. The likes of Lineth Beerensteyn, Julia Grosso, Amanda Nilden, Sara Bjork Gunnarsdottir, Joe Echegini, Maelle Garbino and many more have departed, among many others.
In terms of replacing those players, Chiara Beccari and Eva Schatzer are back from their loans as more established players, Viola Calligaris has been signed permanently, and then Alisha Lehmann (Aston Villa), Amalie Vangsgaard (PSG), Valentina Bergamaschi (AC Milan), Emma Kullberg (Brighton & Hove Albion), Paulina Krumbiegel (Hoffenheim) and Alessia Capelletti (Parma) have arrived.
For current champions AS Roma, the most notable signing is Giulia Dragoni on loan from Barcelona Femeni. The 17-year-old is the brightest Italian prospect there is and she will get a proper crack at Serie A for a season before heading back to Catalonia to hopefully secure a place in the starting lineup of the best team in the world.
The biggest departure for Roma has seen captain Elisa Bartoli head for a new challenge at Inter. That is one of the major leaders in the squad heading elsewhere which will take some getting used to, but Roma will look a lot more familiar than Juventus when the games begin.
Elsewhere, AC Milan will be without the prominent trio of Bergamaschi, Kosovare Asllani and Kamila Dubvoca, but they have completed a permanent deal for Evelyn Ijeh who impressed last season on loan.
Inter have seen more players leave than arrive, but the signings of Bartoli and Martina Tomaselli from Roma are intriguing. Some experience in the form of Andrine Tomter, Frederikke Thogersen, and Flaminia Simonetti has departed, and goalkeeper Sara Cetinja has joined Lazio alongside Simonetti.
A potential shake-up at the top of Women's Serie A
There has been a handful of coaching changes in Women's Serie A since the end of last season and it means there is a lot of unpredictability coming into the campaign.
Juventus appointed Massimiliano Canzi in May and when you factor in the raft of changes in the playing squad, it will be fascinating to see how close they can get to Roma who are still under Alessandro Spugna's guidance.
Milan have moved on from Davide Corti and appointed Suzanne Bakker from Ajax. Bakker's Ajax gave a great account of themselves in the UEFA Women's Champions League last season so she could be a smart appointment by a club that has been mismanaged for a long time.
Gianpiero Piovani's time at Sassuolo came to a natural conclusion and he has replaced Rita Guarino at Inter. He will be tasked with breaking the Nerazzurre into the top three this season, which would mean finishing above Fiorentina who are still coached by Sebastian de la Fuente.
In terms of stature, Roma, Juventus, Milan, Inter and Fiorentina are the teams that will expect to be in the top half and three of them have new coaches. Sassuolo and Como Women are the most likely contenders to upset those five. The Neroverde are now coached by Gian Loris Rossi and Como have appointed Stefano Sottili.
It's also worth keeping an eye on newcomers Lazio this season. Their last spell in the top flight was disastrous, but the club have been investing seriously in their women's team for two years now and they have built a squad that could well make a top-half push as well.
What new teams are in Women's Serie A?
Thanks to Napoli Femminile winning their playoff against Ternana last season, there is only one new team in Serie A for 2024/25.
Having spent two seasons in Serie B, Lazio are back in the top flight after winning the league with a three-point lead over Ternana in second. There was no doubting that they were the best side in the second division and they have made some interesting moves this summer.
Having only lost Marta Varriale and Greta Adami so far, a notable set of players have arrived which includes some established Serie A names.
Lazio signings: Sara Cetinja (Inter), Federica D’Auria (Juventus, loan), Flaminia Simonetti (Inter), Elisabetta Oliviero (Sampdoria), Zsanett Kajan (Fiorentina), Clarisse Le Bihan (Angel City), Ines Belloumou (West Ham), Martina Zanoli (Fiorentina), Megan Connolly (Bristol City), Kerttu Karresmaa (Sampdoria).
Lazio will get their season underway at home against city rivals AS Roma and that promises to be a brilliant occasion in which Gianluca Grassadonia's side will want to lay down a marker.
How the 2025/26 format changes will impact this season
Just three seasons after a new ten-team format was introduced in the Women’s Serie A, the Italian top flight will return to being a 12-team league from 2025/26 on.
The Women’s Serie B will also be impacted, reducing from its current 16-side format to having 14 participating teams.
With the new Women’s Serie A format coming in from 2025/26 on, it means that this season – 2024/25 – will see the situation around promotion and relegation between the top two tiers changed.
Only one team will be relegated from Serie A, which is the team that finishes bottom of the Poule Salvezza. The previous relegation-promotion playoff between second-from-bottom in Serie A and Serie B’s runners-up has been scrapped.
The top three sides in the Women’s Serie B will be automatically promoted to Serie A.
Where to watch Women's Serie A in 2024/25
Every single Women’s Serie A fixture in 2024/25 will be shown on DAZN, while Rai will also show one game per Matchday on free-to-air television in Italy. Rai will also broadcast the Coppa Italia Femminile and the Supercoppa Italiana Femminile finals.
As is the case in much of Europe, DAZN will be the home of top-flight Italian women’s football and will hold the rights to show Women’s Serie A matches in 2024/25, so nothing is changing from 2023/24.