Originally Posted by
ensco
1) Italian clubs have been terrible in European competition for a long time now.
2) Name a big Italian player who has been great at a club in England, Spain or Germany over the last 10-15 years.
I think this is why we are having success with Italians, and the problem Sassuolo may be having with Berardi also. I suspect Serie A production is viewed with rather more of a jaundiced eye in Europe than we perhaps realize.
It's interesting to compare the case of Raphinha to Berardi. Both wingers, similar age (Raphinha 25, Berardi 27), both playing for lesser teams and unproven at a “big” club. The asking price: 50M in both cases. Berardi probably has the better stat line than Raphinha, more of a pure scorer, but Leeds got their 50M for Raphinha (more actually) in a heated auction with multiple big teams (Arsenal, Bayern, Chelsea, Liverpool) involved.
Berardi just sits there, no news for weeks.
(I am not saying Barcelona or anybody else should have been in on Berardi, just comparing the action for the two somewhat comparable players… I know Raphinha is a speed merchant, and that is what has everyone drooling about him. But Lewandoski sure isn’t, pure scoring/playmaking matters to people too.)