Walker to Wilkins, Beckham to Baker - Five of the best and worst Englishmen in Italy

It’s somewhat rare these days to see an Englishman trying his luck in Europe’s top leagues, especially in the tactical cauldron that is Serie A. In fairness, for many, life seemingly begins and ends with the Premier League where visions of a move abroad are often distorted by what many perceive as the ‘greatest league in the world’.

Although of the very few over the years that have exchanged Blackpool tower for the leaning tower there have been significantly contrasting results. So without further ado I present to you a rundown of ten very good and shockingly bad moves that English players have made to the land of Calcio.

Five successful Englishmen in Italy

David Beckham

To say he raised a few eyebrows when he made the switch to AC Milan would be an understatement. Desperate to revive his international career, Beckham has not only firmly edged his way into Fabio Capello’s plans but he’s also proved an asset to the Serie A giants too.

Since joining the club on loan in January, Golden Balls has established himself as a vital cog in the Milan machine that has attempted to keep abreast with rivals Inter in the race for the Scudetto.

At 34-years-old it would have been easy to hide away in the shadow of the likes of Kaka, Ronaldinho, Pato and Seedorf but with two goals and five assists in 16 Serie A outings, Beckham has certainly adapted well to life in Italy’s top flight.

Paul Ince

Ince’s performances in a Manchester United shirt indisputably earned him many plaudits at Old Trafford and after Sir Alex Ferguson had had enough of his ‘big-time Charlie’, Inter Milan were quick to snap him up for £7 million.

The Guv’nor went on to make over 50 league appearances for Inter where San Siro fans warmed to his combative style akin to an Esteban Cambiasso of today.

Although he never won a trophy in Italy, Ince undoubtedly made a decent impression on Serie A before he returned back to England in 1997.

David Platt

As one of the only Englishman to have won anything in Italy, Platt can safely say he enjoyed a fruitful period in the land of pizza and pasta.

In a terrific first season with Serie A club Bari in 1991/92, the Lancashire born goal-scoring midfielder managed an eye catching tally of eleven goals which consequently alerted the attention of Juventus.

Despite not firing on all cylinders for the Old Lady, mainly due to being played out of position, Platt still went on to win the UEFA cup with the club in 1993.

The England man, capped 62 times for his country during his career, then moved onto Sampdoria where he won the Coppa Italia and finished second top goal scorer in Serie A during his second season with the club.

Gerry Hitchens

Our younger readers may not know too much about Gerry Hitchens but he’s certainly worthy of a place in this top five list and arguably at the peak of it too.

Hitchens made his name in England with Aston Villa during the late 1950’s although a brace for his country in a 3-1 victory over Italy in Rome persuaded Inter Milan to part with £85,000 (how the transfer system has changed since then eh) to secure his signature.

At a time when Serie A was experiencing an influx of players moving over from England, Hitchens embraced Italy’s top flight scoring goals aplenty along the way (including 16 in his first season with the Nerazzuri).

The former Cardiff centre forward went on to spend the best part of a decade on the Italian peninsula representing Torino, Atalanta and then Cagliari during a nine-year spell that asserted him as one of the greatest ever Englishman to have played in Italy.

Trevor Francis

Fabio Capello labelled him the best English player to have ever played in Serie A. And to be fair it’s hard to argue with that assessment.

As England’s first £1 million player Francis invariably had to live up to expectations when he joined Sampdoria in 1982.

In his three years spent with the Blucerchiati he scored 17 goals in 68 appearances, helping the Genoa club win their first ever Coppa Italia in 1985.

Even after having enjoyed varying levels of success with Sampdoria, Francis was hungry for more and he would go on to play for Atalanta for another two seasons before joining Rangers in 1987.

Five unsuccessful Englishmen in Italy

Paul Gascoigne

Undoubtedly one of the most technically gifted players of his generation, Gazza looked as though he was set to conquer the world when he agreed terms with Lazio in an £8.5 million deal from Tottenham in 1991.

Unfortunately Gascoigne sustained a serious knee injury in the final of the FA Cup when he lunged in knee-high on Gary Charles in the early moments of the showpiece Wembley tie. That challenge plus a further accident at a night club would keep him out of the entire 1992/93 season and would delay his move to Italy, knocking £3 million off the eventual price-tag too.

A spate of injuries and a failure to settle in Rome ultimately took its toll on Gazza and after only 41 appearances for Lazio he was on his way back to the UK and Rangers.

Yet wedged in between three years of inconsistency and injury heartache were some rousing moments too, including a fantastic run and finish against Pescara.

Joe Baker

Baker may have found life easy in England and Scotland but a press infused Italian lifestyle certainly proved a different kettle of fish for the Merseyside-born England international.

Despite a relatively impressive scoring record of seven goals in nineteen matches (including one against Juventus) during the one sole year he spent with Torino, Baker was lucky to escape back home to England with his body still intact.

In February 1962 Baker and teammate Denis Law were involved in a serious car crash that left the former needing seven operations that would inevitably cut short his Italian adventure.

Luther Blissett

A legend at Watford and Soccer AM may have named a stand after him but he certainly didn’t receive too many standing ovations in an AC Milan shirt.

Whatever possessed Milan to shell out £1 million in 1983 on this bustling English centre-forward is beyond me and the Italian club soon realised their mistake.

After 30 appearances in his first season yielded just five goals, Milan had shipped Blissett back to the Hornets for nearly half the original fee!

Des Walker

You’ll never beat Des Walker…apparently. Although during his time with Sampdoria you would have certainly fancied your chances.

These days you can find this former England international hanging inside closets and perhaps that’s exactly where he should have stayed when making the decision to join Sven Goran Eriksson’s team back in 1992 for £1.5 million.

On his debut against Lazio, Sampdoria conceded three goals with Walker at the heart of the defence and the Italian job soon became the Italian sob when it became arrivederci for Desmond after just one season in Serie A.

Ray Wilkins

It’s a tad harsh to comprehensively claim that Butch was a failure in Italy so I’ll let the statistics do most of the talking instead.

During three years with one of Europe’s biggest clubs, AC Milan, Wilkins only managed to pick up a runners up medal in the Coppa Italia final of 1985.

In fact Wilkins time with the Rossenari coincided with a barren trophy spell for the club as a whole and in a total of 73 Serie A appearances, the current Chelsea assistant manager notched up a somewhat uninspiring two goals.

An Italian invasion: Five of the best and worst Italians to ever play in England

There haven’t been too many Italians that have made that considerably bold step leap of moving from the proverbial comfort zone of Serie A to the Premier League. Although if young Federico Macheda needs any advice on how he may be able to forge a long and fruitful career at Old Trafford then he may be best served having a quick glance at my run down of five of the best (and worst) Italians to have plied their trade in England’s top flight.

Some of the names on this list are remembered with fond memories of success and silverware. These Italians made a difference when they stepped on the pitch. Some of the other names, however, make some supporters cringe to this day. One look at a couple of these names will have some people throwing their hands up in disgust.

It’s time to take a look at the best and worst Italy had to offer the Premier League. Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the Italian invasion!

Five successful Italians in England

Gianfranco Zola

If you had to compile a list of the foreign players that have changed the face of the Premier League I’m pretty sure this ‘clever little so-and-so’ would rank towards the top of nearly all of your selections.

Zola was Chelsea’s creative spark during the late nineties helping guide the West London club to their first FA Cup triumph in some 27 years.

The diminutive, pocket-rocket playmaker would go on to win another FA Cup in 2000 as well as a UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1998 (Chelsea’s first European trophy since 1971 would you believe) amongst many other personal and team accolades.

Paolo Di Canio

The king of controversy, whether you loved him or despised him, Di Canio certainly made a significant impression in English football.

He may well be most remembered for that now rather infamous push but there was certainly more to Di Canio than petulant behaviour and goaded reactions.

Despite failing to claim any silverware during his time in British football, Di Canio’s goals and bad boy attitude made him an instant hero with West Ham fans and who can forget one of the greatest goals ever scored in the Premier League.

Gianluca Vialli

It’s hard to categorically state that Gianluca Vialli was an overriding success during his playing career in England because at the end of the day, he wasn’t.

This was mainly due to the fact that he rarely saw eye to eye with his then manager Ruud Gullit which was a shame as Vialli definitely possessed the ability to warrant more playing time in Chelsea blue.

Although I am going to tepidly place him in this category purely because when he was selected, he rarely failed to disappoint. As well as winning the FA Cup in his first season with the Blues (including two goals in the 4-2 comeback victory over Liverpool), Vialli scored 40 goals for Chelsea and went on to do a pretty decent job as manager of the club too.

Fabrizio Ravanelli

Don’t tell me you’ve never done it? You know, the Ravanelli! Park football was never to be the same again after this ‘white feather’ revolutionised signature celebrations with his shirt over head routine.

Ravanelli announced himself in England with a hat-trick on his debut for Middlesbrough against Liverpool in 1996 and despite enduring an ultimately disappointing season of relegation, the silver haired hit man notched up an impressive tally of 31 goals.

The Perugia born striker would go on to join Derby County later in his career and although he managed nine league goals in his first season with the Rams, he couldn’t prevent the club from sliding into the First Division.

Roberto Di Matteo

Another one of Chelsea’s Italian trio who adapted superbly well to his new English surroundings and was one of the main catalysts behind the clubs 1997 and 2000 FA Cup successes.

Di Matteo was the master of the pass and he wasn’t half bad at finding the back of the net from range either. During six years with Chelsea, Di Matteo made 175 appearances for the club, scoring 26 goals and winning six trophies along the way.

The Swiss born midfielder was sadly forced to retire from football in 2002 after failing to recover from a serious triple leg fracture but he’s since shown that he’s something of a dab hand when it comes to the tactics board too!

Five unsuccessful Italians in England

Massimo Taibi

Manchester United fans look away now! Massimo Taibi, the somewhat calamitous Italian goalkeeper will be rather regrettably remembered for his disastrous one year spell with the English giants.

Sir Alex Ferguson splashed out £4 million to bring the Venezia stopper to Old Trafford and despite playing a blinder in his debut against Liverpool, the signs thereafter were pretty ominous.

It would be against Southampton in only his third game in England that Taibi would make his most glaring blunder. A gem for every conceivable football gaffe DVD released ever since as he allowed Matt Le Tissier’s tame 35-yard effort to spill under his body and into the empty net.

Taibi would play only one further game in a Manchester United goalkeeper jersey. A 5-0 defeat to Chelsea which ended United’s 29 game unbeaten run. Need I say anymore?!

Rolando Bianchi

It all looked rather good for Bianchi when he first joined Manchester City. A goal on his debut against West Ham was followed up with a 20-yard strike against Bristol City in the Carling Cup a few games later but his Eastlands career effectively failed to come to life thereafter.

With Sven Goran Eriksson shelling out nearly £9 million to land a player who the season before had been one of the top scorers in Serie A with lowly Reggina, you perhaps would have expected a better return than five goals in 24 games.

Bianchi will blame injuries and a lack of playing time for his failure to adapt, although I’m sorry Rolando but I just don’t think you were quite ready for the hustle and bustle of the Premier League.

Marco Materazzi

You never hear too much about Materazzi’s time on Merseyside. A controversial World Cup winner who went on to become a mainstay in the Inter back four but not before an ill-fated spell with Everton.

Yes back in 1998 a fresh faced Materazzi joined the Toffees for £2.8 million and manager Walter Smith was confident that the Italian had all the credentials to ‘handle the Premiership, no problem.’

32 games and four red cards later and Marco was on a plane back to Italy, never to be seen at Goodison Park again.

Pierluigi Casiraghi

It’s difficult to label Casiraghi as an undisputed flop and failure of English football as, to be fair, he suffered a serious knee ligament injury that ultimately brought an end to his playing career.

One goal in 15 games didn’t exactly represent a prolific goalscoring record for Chelsea and Casiraghi’s luck seemingly ran out in November 1998 when he collided with West Ham goalkeeper Shaka Hislop that would prove to end his days a player.

The now Italy under 21’s gaffer didn’t help his cause at Stamford Bridge when he lashed out at the club for not offering him sufficient support. Although after ten operations, you can’t help but understand his frustrations.

Bernardo Corradi

Although not quite as bad as a Jonathan Woodgate debut, Corradi hardly left City fans with any real room for optimism when in his first competitive match for the Manchester based club he was sent off after 63 minutes.

It would take 13 games before Corradi would find the net for City, a brace against Fulham in fact, but only one further goal would come for the Siena-born striker during a pretty horrendous spell with the Eastlands club.

To compel the misery of Manchester City fans, Corradi received his marching orders once again, this time for diving in the derby against Manchester United. Not the best thing to do when you have Stuart Pearce as a boss.