Serie A Dominates Premier League Talent, With A Real Madrid Addition

Football, or soccer, can be a funny old game at points and it does not matter if we are talking European leagues or Major League Soccer, or even Asian variants that have come more into prominence in more recent years.

Every now and then you just get a story that lifts the heart, and makes you smile and whilst the recent summer transfer window over in the English Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and so on, took all the headlines based purely on the insane levels of cash that were again spent as clubs improved their first team options, free agents striking out on their own for a new adventure is a story that has bubbled on underneath.

The Premier League and Manchester City lost the talents of Belgian super star Kevin de Bruyne for reasons that will only be explainable by the Etihad Stadium outfit, but again Napoli were the Italian team to benefit – just as they did last summer with the arrivals of Billy Gilmour and fellow Scottish international Scott McTominay who particularly tore the league up after Manchester United deemed him an expensive surplus to demands. The Red Devil’s may well have wanted him for his EFL cup odds talents when they recently lost to Grimsby Town, but I should whisper that quietly as fans are still upset.

This summer also saw the serial winning footballing legend that is Luka Modric move on from Real Madrid and sign for AC Milan in another coup for the Italian division, in another move that shows whilst they might not have the financial might of others, they have a savvy and a negotiation pull that few others can rival.

Another player to switch to the world of pasta and pizza was Jamie Vardy. The 38 year old, former non league starlet who gained 26 caps for England and then won the Premier League in ridiculous style with Leicester City, was let go by the Foxes this summer when his contract expired. A number of years ago there was talk of £60-£80 million potential moves to the likes of Arsenal when he was in his title plomb, but the club doubled down and he stayed loyal and was happy to stay with them to complete a 13 year spell that saw 200 goals in 500 games.

With his time up, he has agreed a new deal with Cremonese and has maintained that ‘age is just a number’ as the Leicester great opens up a new chapter in his varied career and he is backing himself to be a success, much as he thinks De Bruyne and Modric will also prove the age doubters wrong in the 2025/26 campaign as they enjoy the twilight of their careers where arguably intelligence, savvy, and knowledge will far eclipse any slight signs of a loss of pace or speed.

For Vardy his new challenge is is many ways the same as his old challenge. He has moved from Leicester, who despite their unexpected and unrepeated title success, were a side battling to avoid relegation, and he knows that Cremonese are no different, so he expects that his mentality and approach will suit them perfectly as they look to prove people in the wider world of football wrong.

As Vardy says, again leaning on Leicester. ‘Give your all’ and ‘what will be will be’ and as he looks towards his potential debut, the ‘will be’ is building on a surprising start that sees them in third place in the table with two wins from two – including victory over AC Milan.