Do we need to be worried about the future of Italian football?!
Mateo Retegui is next up to be leaving for Saudi Arabia, following Simone Inzaghi and Theo Hernandez. Moise Kean is rumoured to be leaving, too. Does Serie A need to be concerned?
Italian football has a lot of concerns surrounding it right now, most of which could end up making this newsletter pages and pages long. From TV rights, piracy (apparently), racism, systemic negligence, not qualifying for World Cups, fraud, corruption, financial catastrophe, lack of money, dwindling following. The list goes on. But I won’t go into each one today, no. Instead, I want to ask: do we need to be worried?
A couple of weeks ago, I did a reel on Instagram asking if Serie A was a retirement league. In jest, of course. I wasn’t fully serious. Since then, Edin Dzeko was announced as a signing for Fiorentina, and Ciro Immobile returned to Italy, signing for Bologna.
The worrying point isn’t just those signings in isolation. Although they do raise concern given they are 39 and 35 years old, respectively and both returning from Turkey to two of the strongest teams in the league.
It gets worrying when you package those two signings up with the fact that Mateo Retegui is about to leave Atalanta to join Al Qadsiah in the Saudi Pro League. €67m plus add is the reported fee, which is difficult to turn down for a club like Atalanta. That’s a huge profit and crucial for a club whose model is to sign talent for less, grow and develop and sell for a profit. Italian clubs just can't compete financially with Saudi financially. Retegui will reportedly be earning 6x his current salary, which is generational wealth for him and his family. So, why stay in Italy? Sporting-wise, Gian Piero Gasperini has left Atalanta and they’ve replaced him with Ivan Juric, the man who led Southampton to relegation and one of the worst points tallies in Premier League history. Not exactly fuel for confidence now, is it?
You have to remember, too, that Retegui is Argentinian with Italian heritage. For players from South America, securing a financial future for their family is such an important part of their career. If you recall, when signing for Argentinos Juniors, Diego Maradona secured a flat and moved the whole family in, taking them out of the shantytown Villa Fiorito. I can see why Retegui has done it.
The concern lies in the future of Italian football. Once the best league in the world with the greatest talent, it’s now a shell of what it once was. Lack of finances, slow growth and now some of the brightest talents in the country departing for a lesser watched, lesser developed and, in all honesty, a poor quality league. Mateo Retegui was the future of the Azzurri, and having him play in Italy was vital to the country’s success and the growth of the league. He was the Capocannoniere last season and had the potential to continue on that upwards trajectory. We used to have to deal with the likes of Juventus swooping in for him, but now they can’t even compete and have to settle for free transfers on the likes of Jonathan David.
Moise Kean, another important part of Italy’s growth, is rumoured to depart the league, too. Manchester United are interested as they look to take another talent away from Serie A and add to Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund. Saudi Pro League clubs are also interested in Kean, but so far he’s been reluctant. Good news, at least. If Kean does depart Italy, though, it’s damaging. Especially as Edin Dzeko has signed for Fiorentina, and that’d mean out with a 25-year-old exciting star and in with a 39-year-old striker leaving the Turkish league.
Not only do we have to be concerned about the Saudi league, but do we need to worry about the Turkish league, too? Victor Osimhen is set on a move to Galatasaray, and whilst many factors are in play with that saga, it’s another exciting talent leaving the league for what used to be regarded as a ‘worse’ league. Is Turkey ahead of Serie A? We’ve had three strikers go out there and move back to Italy to enter the twilight of their careers. Alvaro Morata is another to be rumoured to return to Italy and join Cesc Fabregas’ Como.
And it goes back to the questions: Is Italy a retirement league? Should we be concerned for the future, given some of the league’s best talents are jumping ship to Saudi Arabia? All in all, Italian football is in a state that needs serious reform. Will anything happen? Who knows. The financial superpowers in the Saudi Pro League and the Premier League make it awfully hard to compete. Reform across the board would help, as well as running Serie A and the FIGC properly. Time will tell. In the meantime, Forza Lorenzo Lucca.