Christmas has come and gone, which can only mean two things: fights in the Next sale, and European football’s major leagues opening for business once more in just a few weeks.
January is often considered a risky time to dip into the market – you don’t need to look far to find examples of rushed or reckless deals that haven’t panned out.
However, there are bargains out there to be had. The following Italy-based players, from rising stars to disgruntled veterans, could make an impact in the Premier League if given the chance...
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| CHRISTIAN KOUAME (GENOA) |
Krzysztof Piatek has hogged the headlines for Genoa this season, coming out of nowhere to lead the Serie A scoring charts ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ciro Immobile.
But his strike partner Kouame is now starting to get the credit he deserves for an impressive start to the season in which he has frequently outshone his Polish counterpart, and his tally of three goals and three assists only explains part of his overall contribution.
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| MOISE KEAN (JUVENTUS) |
The tall, rangy 21-year-old striker only arrived in the summer from Serie B side Cittadella and club president Enrico Preziosi has described him as “a star with enormous room for improvement”.
Genoa would be reluctant to let the Ivorian striker go just six months into his burgeoning partnership with Piatek – a pairing that has already yielded 16 goals this season - and while his agent has talked down transfer speculation, English clubs could do worse than test the Grifone’s resolve for a player on an upward trajectory.
Kean is one of Italy's rising stars, but his development at club level has stalled this season with the likes of Mario Mandzukic, Paulo Dybala and Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of him at Juve.
Roberto Mancini highlighted just how well-regarded the 18-year-old is by handing Kean his first senior Italy cap in November's friendly win over the USA.
The Mino Raiola client scored four goals for doomed Hellas Verona last season, becoming the first 2000-born player to score in the league (and before that, to play in the Champions League), but has been afforded just a single minute of league football this term.
The Italian champions want to tie him down on a new long-term deal and are unlikely to let him go permanently, but Premier League clubs may well have pricked up their ears at the comments of Kean’s brother Giovanni Dosse in November. “I don’t think Moise will stay in Italy; in January he’d like to go and try a different league,” he said. A loan swoop could be a smart move.
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| ANDREA RANOCCHIA (INTER) |
The Frog’ has made his fair share of blunders in the past, and as a result is often unfairly written off as a liability. However, the 30-year-old has much more to offer than simply warming Inter’s bench until his contract runs out in the summer.
Ranocchia is still just 30 but offers great experience with 21 Italy caps and almost 200 Serie A appearances to his name. Not only that, he can offer potential suitors Premier League experience too, having played every league game for Hull in his half-season loan there in the second half of 2016/17.
Not that he particularly enjoyed it, mind. Six weeks into his spell on Humberside, the Italian sobbed: "On the first day alone I went the wrong way down two crossings. I’ve already scraped the rims of my car wheels on the pavements. I'll admit, I’ve been here for a month-and-a-half but I'm yet to see the sun. It rains practically every day. I really miss pasta, too.” But apart from all those things?
His time at Inter appears to be up: Luciano Spalletti is yet to hand the centre-back a single minute in any competition this season, with Stefan de Vrij, Milan Skriniar and Joao Miranda ahead of him in the pecking order.
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| MANUEL LAZZARI (SPAL) |
Lazzari’s performances for SPAL this season have catapulted him from being an impressive performer at one of the league’s lesser lights to a sought-after Italy international.
Quick, dynamic and dangerous in attack, the 25-year-old has been a key threat on the right side of SPAL’s midfield this season and has developed into one of the league’s best in his role. His rise was rewarded with his first Azzurri cap in the Nations League against Portugal in October and, subsequently, rumours about his future have been incessant.
SPAL have set a price tag of £18m while insisting that Lazzari will be going nowhere in January. But that assertion could be put to the test if a particularly keen English club tests their resolve, not least after coach Leonardo Semplici declared just before Christmas that "I'm certain he's ready to join a top club next season". No pressure.
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| MEDHI BENATIA (JUVENTUS) |
Benatia has made his feelings clear about his role at Juventus recently. "I’m struggling playing a game every now and then," he told Italian newspaper La Stampa, and more recently admitted on social media that he was enduring a "difficult period".
When asked about what might happen in January, the former Bayern Munich centre-back said: "Let’s see what happens, how I’m used, if Juve still need me, if Allegri wants me…"
The defender, recently nominated for the BBC’s African Footballer of the Year award, has made just five league appearances this season behind Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci. The Morocco international may well agitate for a move if his comments so far are anything to go by – and with his contract running out in June 2020, Juve may be happy to cash in with promising youngster Daniele Rugani waiting in the wings for more opportunities.
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