AC Milan add youngsters, Inter sign Acerbi on deadline day

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John Dorton/ISI Photos / Getty Images Sport / Getty

ROME (AP) — Inter Milan added veteran center back Francesco Acerbi and AC Milan acquired two more promising young players in 19-year-old Belgian midfielder Aster Vranckx and 21-year-old American fullback Sergiño Dest on a relatively quiet closing to the transfer window in Italy on Thursday.

Most of the big names to arrive in Serie A came weeks ago, with Paul Pogba and Ángel Di Maria going to Juventus, Romelu Lukaku returning to Inter and Paulo Dybala, Nemanja Matić and Georginio Wijnaldum linking up with José Mourinho at Roma.

Also, new midfielder Charles De Ketelaere has already impressed at defending champion Milan.

Napoli had expressed interest in swapping Victor Osimhen for Cristiano Ronaldo but the five-time Ballon d’Or winner remained at Manchester United.

Vranckx joined Milan on loan from Wolfsburg with the Rossoneri obliged to purchase his full rights at the end of the season in a deal estimated at 12 million euros ($12 million).

Dest is set to become the first American to play for Milan in Serie A after joining on a season-long loan deal from Barcelona, for a reported fee of 20 million euros ($19.9 million).

The 34-year-old Acerbi was a key member of the Italy team that won the European Championship last year and previously played under Inter coach Simone Inzaghi at Lazio. Acerbi marked Inter’s only significant signing since the beginning of July, with Inzaghi wanting to have his squad ready for the start of preseason training.

After losing the title to city rival Milan a year after its own championship, Inter signed midfielders Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Kristjan Asllani, and goalkeeper André Onana but most significantly it brought Lukaku back a year after his acrimonious departure to Chelsea.

Juventus signed Leandro Paredes on loan from Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, with the midfielder returning for a fourth stint in Serie A. The Bianconeri also looked set to loan Arthur Melo to Liverpool on deadline day after the Brazil midfielder fell out of favor under Massimiliano Allegri. Likewise, Denis Zakaria was being loaned to Chelsea and Marko Pjaca to Empoli.

Atalanta bid goodbye to fan favorite Josip Ilicic after the Slovenia forward terminated his contract by mutual consent.

Salernitana signed center forward Krzysztof Piątek on loan from Hertha Berlin; Scotland center back Jack Hendry was loaned from Club Brugge to promoted Cremonese and Australia international Ajdin Hrustic joined Hellas Verona from Eintracht Frankfurt.

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Associated Press writer Daniella Matar in Milan contributed.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf

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