Italian players in the Premier League.

Apart from Zola and Di Canio (signed well over a decade ago), I'm struggling to think of a sucess story of an Italian in the Premier League.

More recently they all seem to be flops, Theres Osvaldo, Balotelli, Aquilani, Bianchi, Dossena, Borini, Giaccherini, Diamanti and probably some more.

In fact Pelle could be argued as the most successful italian in recent times

Also players coming for big money from the Italian league always seem to fail to impress, I've already mentioned Mario and Aquilani but remember Veron went to United for huge money and was awful and of course our own Osvaldo and Ramirez.

So it seems if you want to spend money wisely in this league, best off skipping scouting the Serie A as no matter how well they play over there, recent history says its very unlikely they'll replicate that over here

Taking that into account I hope we aren't getting this guy http://talksport.com/football/leeds-united-set-transfer-battle-southampton-serie-star-150609150020? Leeds can have him!

Ravanelli did well at Boro... 20 years ago!

Italy Italy[edit]

Gabriele Ambrosetti – Chelsea – 1999–2000

Marco Ambrosio – Chelsea – 2003–04

Lorenzo Amoruso – Blackburn Rovers – 2003–05

Alberto Aquilani – Liverpool – 2009–12

Dino Baggio – Blackburn Rovers – 2003–04

Francesco Baiano – Derby County – 1997–2000

Mario Balotelli – Manchester City, Liverpool – 2010–13, 2014–

Nicola Berti – Tottenham Hotspur – 1997–99

Rolando Bianchi – Manchester City – 2007–08

Patrizio Billio – Crystal Palace – 1997–98

Ivano Bonetti – Crystal Palace – 1997–98

Fabio Borini – Chelsea, Liverpool, Sunderland – 2009–10, 2012–

Marco Borriello – West Ham United – 2013–14

Marco Branca – Middlesbrough – 1998–99

Benito Carbone – Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Bradford City, Derby County, Middlesbrough – 1996–2002

Pierluigi Casiraghi – Chelsea – 1998–99

Bernardo Corradi – Manchester City – 2006–07

Carlo Cudicini – Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur – 1999–2011

Daniele Daino – Derby County – 2001–02

Samuele Dalla Bona – Chelsea – 1999–2002

Paolo Di Canio – Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham United, Charlton Athletic – 1997–2004

Roberto Di Matteo – Chelsea – 1996–2001[Note 47]

David Di Michele – West Ham United – 2008–09

Alessandro Diamanti – West Ham United – 2008–10

Andrea Dossena – Liverpool, Sunderland – 2008–10, 2013–14

Stefano Eranio – Derby County – 1997–2001

Matteo Ferrari – Everton – 2005–06[Note 48]

Gianluca Festa – Middlesbrough – 1996–97, 1998–2002

Emanuele Giaccherini – Sunderland – 2013–

Stefano Gioacchini – Coventry City – 1998–99

Corrado Grabbi – Blackburn Rovers – 2001–04

Attilio Lombardo – Crystal Palace – 1997–98

Arturo Lupoli – Arsenal – 2005–06

Massimo Maccarone – Middlesbrough – 2002–04, 2005–07

Federico Macheda – Manchester United, Queens Park Rangers – 2008–12

Roberto Mancini – Leicester City – 2000–01

Vito Mannone – Arsenal, Sunderland – 2008–10, 2012–

Dario Marcolin – Blackburn Rovers – 1998–99

Marco Materazzi – Everton – 1998–99

Vincenzo Montella – Fulham – 2006–07

Antonio Nocerino – West Ham United – 2013–14

Stefano Okaka – Fulham – 2009–10

Dani Osvaldo – Southampton – 2013–14[Note 49]

Daniele Padelli – Liverpool – 2006–07

Michele Padovano – Crystal Palace – 1997–98

Christian Panucci – Chelsea – 2000–01

Graziano Pellè – Southampton – 2014–

Alessandro Pistone – Newcastle United, Everton – 1997–2006

Rodrigo Possebon – Manchester United – 2008–09[Note 18]

Fabrizio Ravanelli – Middlesbrough, Derby County – 1996–97, 2001–02

Giuseppe Rossi – Manchester United, Newcastle United – 2005–07[Note 50]

Francesco Sanetti – Sheffield Wednesday – 1997–99

Davide Santon – Newcastle United – 2011–14

Matteo Sereni – Ipswich Town – 2001–02

Andrea Silenzi – Nottingham Forest – 1995–97

Massimo Taibi – Manchester United – 1999–2000

Paolo Tramezzani – Tottenham Hotspur – 1998–99

Marcello Trotta – Fulham – 2011–12

Nicola Ventola – Crystal Palace – 2004–05

Gianluca Vialli – Chelsea – 1996–99

Gianfranco Zola – Chelsea – 1996–2003

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_Premier_League_players

Taibi was top class, ask MLT.

Wasn't Carbone a hit?

Try this...http://www.sporcle.com/games/BicycleStipe/ItalianEPL

Apart from Zola and Di Canio (signed well over a decade ago), I'm struggling to think of a sucess story of an Italian in the Premier League.

 

More recently they all seem to be flops, Theres Osvaldo, Balotelli, Aquilani, Bianchi, Dossena, Borini, Giaccherini, Diamanti and probably some more.

 

In fact Pelle could be argued as the most successful italian in recent times

 

Also players coming for big money from the Italian league always seem to fail to impress, I've already mentioned Mario and Aquilani but remember Veron went to United for huge money and was awful and of course our own Osvaldo and Ramirez.

 

So it seems if you want to spend money wisely in this league, best off skipping scouting the Serie A as no matter how well they play over there, recent history says its very unlikely they'll replicate that over here

 

Taking that into account I hope we aren't getting this guy http://talksport.com/football/leeds-united-set-transfer-battle-southampton-serie-star-150609150020? Leeds can have him!

It's all about, pace and physicality and many players coming from Italy don't have either and very few both. Being a technical genius gets you nowhere when Wes Brown kicks you up in the air. It's not just Italians either, many Spanish,Portuguese and South Americans don't make the grade either. You need special talents to play well in the PL.

Pelle? Hes not done badly.

What have the Romans ever done for us?

What have the Romans ever done for us?

He did sod all.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romain_Gasmi

And Abramovich gave us £7 million and Le Saux for Bridge. ;-)

First time round, calling Balotelli a flop at City is over the top for me - occasional liability, definitely, but not a flop. Scored some big goals in their first title-winning season.

Not so many successes recently back a while back, plenty of good examples. Zola, Vialli, Di Matteo, Cudicini. Wasnt Vieira digned from Milan as well?

Pelle? Hes not done badly.

Which is why I said you could argue he's been the most successful in recent times

First time round, calling Balotelli a flop at City is over the top for me - occasional liability, definitely, but not a flop. Scored some big goals in their first title-winning season.

 

Not so many successes recently back a while back, plenty of good examples. Zola, Vialli, Di Matteo, Cudicini. Wasnt Vieira digned from Milan as well?

And Henry and Bergkamp were signed from Italy, but they were sold because they didn't play well there whereas players like Veron Aquilani and Maccrone were signed for big money after impressing in Italy yet flopped in England.

I also maintain Balotelli overall was a flop for City, was the weak link in many loses and Dzeko, Tevez and Aguero were all picked ahead of him

The ones that Chelsea signed were generally excellent, the rest mostly meh!!