Scotland will have SIX Scots in Serie A next season as rising star joins Scott McTominay and Co in Italy's top flight
SCOTS SURGE Scotland will have SIX Scots in Serie A next season as rising star joins Scott McTominay and Co in Italy's top flight
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SCOTS have been a hit in Italian football in recent years.
Perhaps none more so than this season with FIVE players strutting their stuff in Serie A but that number will jump to six for the 2025-26 campaign.
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Sassuolo celebrate after sealing their return to Serie A
Credit: Getty
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Josh Doig has captained Scotland's Under-21s and been around the senior setup
Credit: Alamy
That's because a rising star who has captained the Scotland Under-21s has just won promotion to the country's top flight.
This season we've witnessed Scott McTominay go from Manchester United conundrum to Napoli cult hero and he stands on the brink of history with the Gli Azzuri as they close in on the Scudetto.
Playing alongside him in Antonio Conte's potential Serie A-winning team has been Billy Gilmour, who joined the club from Brighton on the same day as McTominay.
Last year it was all about Lewis Ferguson, who won the coveted Premio Bulgarelli Number 8 award - dished out by the Italian FA to who they believe was the best midfielder of the season.
The former Aberdeen and Hamilton star led Bologna to the Champions League for the time since the sixties but missed the final few months of the season (and the Euros) due to an injury that kept him sidelined until October.
This season, he's continued to wear the armband as Bologna reached the Coppa Italia final.
Despite scoring 16 goals for Southampton as they achieved promotion from the Championship to the Premier League in 2023-24, Che Adams joined Torino in the summer and hasn't looked back.
While Saints struggled in the Prem, Adams is the Granata's top scorer this season with ten goals in all competitions (matching Denis Law's record for the club).
The longest-serving Scottish footballer in Italy is Liam Henderson, however.
The former Celtic and Hibs player is with his fifth Italian club, Empoli, having first moved to the country in 2018 to sign for Bari.
'How can you sell him?' Ole Gunnar Solskjaer blasts Man Utd for Scott McTominay's transfer to Napoli
He has since turned out for Hellas Verona, Lecce and Palermo and was on the losing side of the Coppa Italia semi-final against Ferguson's Bologna this year.
Like Henderson, Josh Doig is a former Hibs star with previous Serie A experience - but he's been missing from the league for the last year.
He joined Hellas Verona from the Easter Road club for £3million in 2022 but was sold to Sassuolo midway through the following season.
Doig was unable to stop the Neroverdi from suffering relegation but this season they bounced back.
The Modena club stormed to the Serie B title and had their place in Serie A confirmed with several games remaining.
After a 1-1 draw at Cremonese at the weekend, their final two matches are at home, starting with tonight's clash against Catanzaro.
Doig has played in the majority of games this season, making the left-back position his own.
He has started all but four of his 28 league appearances, scoring once and providing one assist and will be relishing a return to Serie A to face his Scots pals.
Sassuolo are managed by former Italy World Cup winner Fabio Grosso.
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Doig in action for Sassuolo this season
Credit: Getty
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