Serie A, among the top 5 European leagues, is undoubtedly the most physical and above all the most tactical. Between the eighties and early twenty-first century, it was one of the most followed tournaments in the world. On the other hand, the league was full of champions, bought from all over the world and made timeless and iconic through the victories of Milan, Inter and Juventus. From the mid-2000s onwards, football changed drastically, increasingly embracing the element of ‘entertainment’. The sports part, which has always been dominant, is increasingly beginning to leave space for the “television” part and the entertainment part, the product, everything that also surrounds the sports score itself. This factor, combined with the arrival of major foreign investors (maybe followed by this shift), has propelled the Premier League to the top of the world.
However, in the recent period, many young English players have left England. The most famous in this sense is Jadon Sancho. The current Manchester United player, who grew up in City’s youth teams, left his parent company too early to move to Germany, with Borussia Dortmund. After him, many young Englishmen followed in his footsteps. The clearest example of this is at Milan with Fikayo Tomori, another pioneer of other English defenders in Serie A. Before him it was Smalling who chose Roma, but if we talk about the young talents who follow Tomori in the Italian league, Tuanzebe and Maitland-Niles have arrived. Of course, this applies not only to the Italian league: many young players are leaving that earthly paradise (at least in economic terms) called the Premier League to join other European leagues.
England manager Southgate is pleased with this latest trend, as he has often spoken out in favor of change and new experiences for English talent. However, in terms of Milan’s heartthrob, things don’t seem so simple in the national orbit, and the same can also be said of some of his teammates who have left the UK.
In short, the English Premier League is the best according to many, from the point of view of economic, entertainment and sporting results. However, this does not mean that there is only the English Premier League, and many English players are finally aware of this.
In this regard, we had the pleasure of speaking with two of our colleagues across the channel, Charlie Witt for “the sun” And the john cross for “womanIn addition to putting a magnifying glass on Fikayo Tomori, we also talked about this relationship between English youth and abroad, depicting the Italian Championship in England and the difference between the world’s number one championship and Serie A. Di, their words followed:
Fikayo Tomori left England for Milan and now conquers all fans and is considered one of the best defenders in the league. Are we talking about this in England?
Wet: Tomori is definitely the best player. He only played two matches for England, which is surprising. But he is very much appreciated in the Premier League and we hope he will be back soon.
cross: Tomori is now considered good in England. But when he left, he didn’t have a great profile and might still not have the same consideration as, say, Tammy Abraham. But people think a lot about how to play Tomori.
Despite his excellent performance, Tomori was called up only once for the national team. How do you explain this to yourself? Do you think this is due to the fact that you don’t play in the Premier League?
Wet: It is strange that he did not play more for England, but this does not stem from the fact that he plays for Milan. Arsenal’s Ben White has the same problem. Stones and Maguire are the central defenders of England with Mings and Coady as a substitute. Tomori is stronger than both Mings and Coady but Southgate is very loyal to the results he got at Euro 2020. He will likely also go with them to the World Cup, but Tomori should be part of the expedition. However, we have the impression that Southgate isn’t convinced too much.
cross: I think Tomori has not been called up because England have such a high quality in this department. He has been called up more than once, but Maguire, Stones, Walker and Coady are ahead of him, and England have just reached the European final with them. Behind him is White, Webster, and many others. There is a lot of quality. But Southgate really likes players who go to play abroad, so Tomori is in this photo.
Many English Premier League and Serie A players choose Serie A to grow and play on loan. From Tomori to Tuanzebe, passing through Maitland Niles and last year Diogo Dalot. How do you explain this trend?
Wet: The fact that more English players are playing in the First Division is a good thing. In the past, the only players who actually made it and finished leaving England were: David Platt, Gordon Cowans and Paul Ince did quite well. Others like Ashley Cole were embarrassed. I think the English players today realize that there is so much more to the Premier League. Unfortunately, the salaries they can get in the Premier League are much higher than what the Italian Serie A teams can offer.
cross: Italian clubs follow the German model and see that many English players are not finding space. This way they can offer him opportunities and deals very cheap. Clubs are happier to sell abroad.
In the past, English players rarely went outside their borders. Now we have the examples of Sancho, Maduweki, Mavididi and many others. Here too, has anything changed?
Wet: Things change. The English players know that they can grow elsewhere and have other experiences. Italy is a wonderful country to live in. Players can also be respected more and play more space in the first team. Southgate really likes the fact that many players will be playing abroad.
cross: Players are becoming more and more convinced to change their views. They are expanding their horizons. I’m surprised there aren’t more players playing outside England.
What is the perception of the Italian championship in England?
Wet: English fans love the Premier League. It takes them back to the days of Gascoigne. It’s a shame they don’t watch a lot of matches but it’s still popular. Serie A is considered weaker because the English teams have recently played in Italy against Milan, Napoli and Atalanta and have done well. The fact that there are several former Premier League players in the Italian Serie A has only increased the interest.
cross: Your impression of the Italian league is good. They think the quality is not as high as the quality of the Premier League, perhaps due to the results in Europe. But since the 1980s they have been fascinated by the First Division. And now with the arrival of the English players, the interest is even greater.
reporter from Mirror Then he also told us what he thinks of the differences between the Premier League and the First Division, and why there is such a big gap even on an economic level:
“The difference is the value. The Premier League is more popular. TV rights depend on popularity and viewers. That explains a little bit of everything. Personally, I think the Premier League is the best and has the best ‘dramatic’ entertainment to offer. But the technical level is not that high. Inter is an excellent match against Liverpool, but Juventus for example are no longer at the level of Conte or Allegri. I think that the La Liga and the Bundesliga are widely followed in England, just like the Italian league.”
To confirm this thesis there are also words Stefano Pioli At the press conference on the eve of Salernitana – Milan:
“The distance is there because the economic difference is big and therefore they can make big investments. The British are the strongest, but the Italians are growing well”
The economic difference is enormous, obvious, very large. The most disturbing and disturbing data in this sense is provided by the balance sheet on the revenues from television rights to the top 5 European leagues. In the following image, it is also possible to understand the huge difference between the different leagues only visually.
The worst is Ligue 1, with less than 500 million, followed by Serie A. The German league, which is in third place, receives practically twice as much as the Italian league. La Liga and the English Premier League play practically a separate league, 8 times and 12 times more, respectively, compared to our own.
In addition to this data, it is clear that the Premier League also outperforms in terms of salaries and expenses in the transfer window, well ahead of the stalkers.
An economical spin, and also a sporty one for now. However, Serie A is still more than just a formative league, especially for young defenders, and more and more clubs and Premier League players are realizing this.
data source: football standard
Read here Stefano Pioli’s words at the conference