After counting down the list of the best Italians who have played in the Premier League, we are marking Tuesday evening’s England vs Italy meeting by taking a look back at some of the best English players who have played in Serie A.
- English players seeking a new experience in Italy has come back into fashion in recent years, with five names currently plying their trade in the Serie A
- From the late 1980’s and right the way through to the end of the millennium, Italy experienced its ‘golden age’ of English players
- Below SportsLens picks out 10 of the best English players who have played in Serie A
Top 10 English Players Who Have Played in Serie A
10. Chris Smalling
Maybe a surprise inclusion for some, but Chris Smalling’s willingness to forge a career abroad after a stuttering period in England is more than commendable.
Serie A has its own complexities and demands, particularly when it comes to defending. Smalling has adapted alarmingly well for a player perceived by many as not up to the task at Manchester United.
A Europa Conference League winner and a Europa League runner-up, it is fair to say has had his share of success since making the switch five years ago.
He has also made a bit of a habit out of scoring in the league, having netted three goals in all but one of his four seasons before this year.
9. Tammy Abraham
Although game time at Chelsea was few and far between, Tammy Abraham’s switch to Roma in 2021 certainly raised a few eyebrows. However, under the guidance of Jose Mourinho, he was a revelation in his debut season.
Not only did he taste European success in the inaugural Europa Conference League, but his 17-goal haul in the Serie A set a new record for most goals scored by an Englishman.
Nine in 13 games in Europe and one in the cup bumped his his season total to 27 – an impressive feat for a man who was deemed surplus to requirements in West London.
His second season wasn’t quite as fruitful, scoring nine and assisting seven more, and his progress in Italy was halted by a nasty ACL injury at the tail end of last year. However, there is no doubting he has found a home in the capital and is deserving of a spot on this list.
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8. Fikayo Tomori
A fellow Chelsea youth product who swapped Cobham for Milan, Fikayo Tomori has excelled in Italy.
The latest in a long line of world-beating centre-backs at AC Milan, there are huge boots to fill when occupying the heart of defence at the San Siro.
Tomori joined on an initial loan deal in January 2021, and became the first Englishman to score in Serie A for Milan since 2009 after a thumping header against Juventus. This victory signalled a power shift in Italy, with Milan going on to claim their first Serie A in over a decade.
Tomori appreciation post. We have only conceded 3 goals in 9 games when he has played this season. Warrior. pic.twitter.com/NQBokXdiGg
— 🦅 (@nemaccer) October 7, 2023
Tomori played more minutes than any other player in the league that year, highlighting his new-found role as a fan favourite and a key component of AC Milan’s evolution.
Tomori was also integral to Milan’s journey to the Champions League semi-finals last season; their first in 10 years.
7. Paul Ince
“When I left United it wasn’t my decision…I was devastated to leave,” said Paul Ince in an interview in 2016.
To everyone’s bemusement, Manchester United accepted a £7 million bid from Inter Milan in 1995, just a year after the Nerazzurri recorded their worst ever finish in Serie A as they narrowly escaped relegation by a single point.
Inter had not tasted domestic success of any kind since 1989, but Ince’s arrival signalled the start of a new period and a huge statement of intent from new president Massimo Moratti.
Although he retuned to England in 1997 with no silverware to show for his efforts, Ince had helped to break down barriers in the face of racial prejudice.
After scoring the first goal against Cremonese in April of 1996, Ince recalled: “They were shouting ‘N*****, n*****’, at me. So I turned towards them and clapped, as if to say, ‘Yeah, well done’. That’s when the referee booked me.’”
Ince later admitted had it not been for the arrival of Roy Hodgson in his second season, he more than likely would have quit under the pressure of Italy’s deep-rooted cultural of racism.
However, he would end his time in Italy as a firm favourite for Inter, with one paper describing the team without him as “Inter sensa Anima” or “Inter without Soul.”
6. Mark Hateley
Amid an influx of talent to Italy in the summer of 1984 – including Diego Maradona to Napoli, Michel Platini to Juventus and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to Inter – Mark Hateley was the man AC Milan turned to.
The Italian giants were looking a lot smaller at the time amid a succession of relegations as a result of the Totonero betting scandal. They turned to England’s second division to unearth their very own world-beating gem, with Hateley arriving off the back of a prolific season for Portsmouth after scoring 22 goals in 38 games.
Hateley’s most iconic moment came in Italy’s most iconic fixture – the Milan derby – which Inter had monopolised for six years.
With 25 minutes left on the clock, he made a surging run into the box to beat the towering Fulvio Collovati in the air, and make it 2-1. This was the first time in nearly a century that the team who opened to scoring in the derby went on to lose.
Renowned Italian director and, Ugo Tognazzi, described Hateley and fellow compatriot Ray Wilkins as “two rare and refined English species in a divine dish” following the game.
Hateley would spend three seasons in Italy, scoring 17 goals in 66 appearances until Marco Van Basten’s arrival in 1987 ultimately saw his spell cut short.
5. Paul Gascoigne
After landing in Rome in 1992, one Lazio fan who clambered to get a glimpse at their new signing, Paul Gascoigne, said: “When we got him, my god, it seemed like Jesus Christ was arriving.”
Gazza’s Roman resurgence never quite panned out as he would’ve wanted, but adorning Lazio fans to this day would not allow a bad word to be said about him.
Fragility, psychological battles and interference from the wrong people would ultimately underpin his time in Italy, but the misty-eyed nostalgia when seeing him don the Biancocelesti years later makes him perhaps the most iconic Englishman to sample the Serie A.
Quality goal from Paul Gascoigne for Lazio in the 92/93 seasonpic.twitter.com/3eSK4orOa1
— VAR Tático (@vartatico) June 2, 2023
Of his 41 appearances across two years, he was substituted 30 times, and was constantly plagued by injuries. A hounding press would follow him everywhere he went to try and get a glimpse of his indulgent lifestyle.
He was largely misunderstood by fans in Italy, who looked upon a troubled Englishman and offered little help to try and get him on the straight and narrow.
His bond with Lazio is everlasting however, and is even alleged to have frequently visited the ultras group, the Irriducibili.
4. Trevor Francis
Fabio Capello once described Trevor Francis, who unfortunately died in July of this year, as “the best Englishman to have played in Italy.” Legendary Inter Milan shot-stopper Walter Zenga also claimed “Francis is the best forward I’ve ever seen” after he netted a brace away at the San Siro in his second season.
Francis swapped his hometown club Plymouth for a taste of the Italian Riviera, joining Irish midfielder Liam Brady, Manchester City’s title-winning manager Roberto Mancini and now-Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness at Sampdoria.
Although he was supposedly diagnosed with hyperuricemia in the latter stages of his time there, he made 68 appearances for the club and registered 17 goals along with a Coppa Italia triumph in his second season. Remembered fondly by the Blucerchiati, he was invited to return as a guest of honour in November 2012 for the Derby della Lanterna against Genoa.
He also featured in an indifferent season for Atalanta in 1986, although that move signalled the waning of his powers.
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3. Ray Wilkins
Alongside the aforementioned Mark Hateley, Ray Wilkins joined in the summer of 1984. He too helped AC Milan climb out of their post-betting scandal rut, and although his three years at the club didn’t amount to a trophy, he is cherished by the club for helping them back to their feet.
After his premature passing aged 61, the San Siro stood for a minute’s applause while club legend and former teammate Franco Baresi held up a shirt with ‘Wilkins 8’ on the back in a touching tribute.
Fans also prepared a banner which read “Ciao Ray: Leggenda Rossonera” or “Goodbye Ray: Legend of the Red and Blacks.”
2. David Platt
Only one English player has featured for more Italian clubs than David Platt, and by virtue of his travels in Serie A certainly warrants a place high up our list.
Off the back of a glittering tournament in Italy during the 1990 World Cup, Aston Villa’s PFA Players’ Player of the Year opted for a move to Bari. Although his first year in Italy would end in relegation, he was handed the number 10 shirt and scored 11 goals – a return considered nigh-impossible for a midfielder during the height of Italian football’s defensive heyday.
His best spell came at his third and final club however, joining Sampdoria and featuring alongside Roberto Mancini and Ruud Gullit where he lifted a Coppa Italia in his second year. His 17 goals in 55 appearances for the club is no mean feat for a midfielder, and Platt holds an enduring legacy as one of the best English players to have broken ground in Italy.
1. Gerry Hitchens
Denis Law and Jimmy Greaves – both iconic goalscorers in English football – had tried and failed in Italy around the same time, but Gerry Hitchens managed to forge a career in uncharted waters, and for some, he is England’s forgotten superstar.
He scored twice for England against Italy in Rome in 1961, which caught the eye of Inter Milan who paid £85,000 that same year to bring him to the Serie A.
Followed everywhere by the adoring fanbase and press, his bright blonde crop and fair skin made him an overnight celebrity, earning him the nickname Il Principe del Gioco del Calcio (The Prince of Football) given by the Italian media.
Despite featuring and scoring in England’s disastrous 1962 World Cup campaign in Chile, he was eventually outcast from the Three Lions by Sir Alf Ramsey, who insisted on picking players who played on home soil. According to his biographer, Hitchens is said to have arrived before their trip to South America with “19 designer suits,” much to the amusement of the squad.
With his legacy in England all but wiped, he still went on to play eight seasons in Italy, which remains the longest stint of any Englishman abroad.
A Serie A winner in 1962/63 and a golden boot winner in his debut season, he scored a total of 59 league goals in just over 200 appearances while playing for Inter, Atalanta, Torino and Cagliari.
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