Transfer market: from Satriano to Cangiano, the Italians went abroad in the last transfer market

Some have ended up in the Holy Land or Cyprus. Someone ripped up a contract in the shadow of the Petronas Towers. Others have returned to their origins, in South America, and a nephew of art has flown to Spain.

Between promises on the launch pad and footballers at the end of their careers, Made in Italy is fashionable abroad. Not just Jorginho and Cesare Casadei, who just moved from Chelsea to Arsenal and Reading. This winter transfer market session gives us the stories of several Italians who have packed their bags to move to every corner of the world.

THE TALENTS

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Holland has a reputation as a cradle of talent. Lorenzo Lucca (Ajax), Gaetano Oristanio (Volendam) and Luciano Valente (Groningen) play in the Eredivisie, all in the orbit of the Italian youth national teams.

Filling up the Azzurrini colony here is Gianmarco Cangiano, a 21-year-old winger owned by Bologna: after spending a few months in Bari (without finding much space) he landed on loan at Fortuna Sittard. Heracles Almelo, fighting for promotion to the Eredivisie, has focused on a product from Roma’s youth sector: the one in Keuken Kampian Divisien is the first experience among professionals for the 19-year-old Antonio Satriano, striker of the Italian Under 20. The midfielder Filippo Tripi has also left Rome: the new home of the class of 2002 is Mura (Slovene Serie A). He didn’t shine in Genoa and so 22-year-old Kelvin Yeboah (nephew of the African legend Tony) crossed the Alps again.

The Italian-Ghanaian striker has signed (on loan) with the Germans of Augsburg (with whom he has already clocked two assists) and aims to confirm the good things shown in Austria, where he had won with goals (between Wsg Tirol and Sturm Graz) before ending up at Genoa in January 2022 (just one goal with the Grifone). Adrian Galliani, nephew of Adriano (CEO of Monza), has accepted the court of Villarubia: the 21-year-old born in New York has just landed in the fifth Spanish series and also has experiences in the youth sectors of Nottingham Forest, Watford and Olympiacos in his CV.

THE OTHERS

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Toronto lost Mimmo Criscito, who returned to Genoa for the minimum contract, but it didn’t take him long to reassemble the Italian colony with Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi. The Canadian club has signed the 25-year-old full-back Raoul Petretta: born in Germany to parents from Irpinia (emigrated after the earthquake in the 1980s), he has always played abroad between Swiss side Basel (where he grew up) and Turkish side Kasimpasa (with which he spent the last few months).

The 31-year-old Federico Macheda, former starlet of the Manchester United youth team, has just left Turkey temporarily, moving (on loan) from Ankaragucu to Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus): another page from “off-site” after the 30 goals scored in Greece, at Panathinaikos, from 2018 to 2022. The longest flight was taken by the Venetian Sebastian Avanzini. The 25-year-old midfielder has linked his career to teams in Denmark (except for the parenthesis in the Faroe Islands). And he’s now ended up on the other side of the world in Malaysia, signed by Kuala Lumpur City.

Then there are those who have not resisted the call of home. Eder, a former Inter Milan and Italy striker, left San Paolo to settle at Criciúma (Brazilian Serie B), the club where the Carioca born in 1986 (but with Venetian origins) grew up as a young man before joining the Empoli in 2006. In recent weeks, two midfielders born in Argentina but with a past in Italy’s Under 21 squad have also signed abroad.

Fresh from his experience in Greece, Cristian Battocchio (30 years old) landed at Sektzia Ness Ziona in Israel, while former Milan player José Mauri (26 years old) chose Club Atletico Sarmiento in the Argentine top flight.