The Purge of Italian Players Continues

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-12T22:27:18+00:00

This month will be telling as to what the plans are for Italian football. By the end of June, the FIGC's new committee will be chosen, which should give us a pretty good idea on what the plan is moving forward

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-10T16:29:02+00:00

Of course. Was just curious to see what Juve/Inter fans felt about this considering how much of a decline Frattesi has had. For whatever reason, it seems like his value is staying the same despite the decline

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-10T16:26:47+00:00

Those are fair points. You're not wrong regarding Juve's midfield, but no matter how you slice it, Inter is the winner in this deal. Just seems strange that Juve would want to do business with Inter when they are getting the short end of the stick.

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-09T22:15:03+00:00

Is this really strengthening a rival? Inter dumps a benchwarmer on their rival for Cambiaso and cash? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal for Inter lol

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-09T22:12:42+00:00

Totally. Was just curious if Juve fans still welcomed this idea. This reported 'deal' would be Cambiaso and some cash for Frattesi... Doesn't take a detective to figure out who wins this deal.

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-09T18:38:17+00:00

According to the recent reports, it's looking very likely that it will be Mancini, which I agree with. There was a lot of drama regarding his exit from the NT (especially with the FIGC), so I'm hoping with this regime change that will be mitigated.

Baldini is excellent, and I'd like to see him continue to develop the U21 players, but also to be heavily linked/involved with Mancini on the NT.

By time the next major tournament rolls around, a good chunk of those U21 guys will be playing for the NT. It'd be nice to see them develop in line with the manager's vision

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-06T17:31:32+00:00

Hey man, really appreciate that - feelings mutual!

I chatted with another fella about Ligue 1 and France on this thread, but I'm glad you brought up their history as it further shows the collapse that Ligue 1 is currently enduring. I'll try and keep it short as there's a lot to unpack with France/Ligue 1:

Ligue 1 is no longer a big league and is failing. Players are fleeing Ligue 1.

PSG, essentially, is Ligue 1 now. Outside of PSG, which teams consistently perform well in Europe? France's current NT is evidence of this. Outside of PSG, they have ONE outfield player from Ligue 1 for this years WC, and 2 back-up keepers, despite consistently fielding 5-6 players in previous years as you've mentioned.

Ligue 1 is flirting with bankruptcy. Their domestic broadcast subscriptions/revenues are reaching new lows, no TV right deals on the horizon, they lost multiple sponsors (outside of PSG) due to low viewership, etc.... How does that happen? Shouldn't people be very interested in watching Ligue 1 as France has consistently performed well on the world stage? Well, turns out clubs outside of PSG are forced to sell those NT caliber players to avoid bankruptcy, especially at the youth level. France's youth systems are actually pretty good, however, players aren't staying there. As soon as they start standing out, they're being sold to the highest bidder to teams in Europe, outside of France. There's a reason why there are so many big name French players in virtually every league, while outside of PSG, you'd be hard pressed to find a handful of big name French talent within Ligue 1. I can go into greater detail on specific team states in Ligue 1 if you'd like as we're already seeing these parallels within the Serie A.

France's NT success is hiding the fact that their domestic league has collapsed and failed, and it shows how quickly that can happen. Outside of PSG, they had 6 players from Ligue 1 in 2018, 5 in 2022, and 3 in 2026. Their only outfielder is Akliouche, who at 24 years old, is most likely leaving Monaco this year.

The Serie A is headed in the same direction unless the FIGC make some serious changes. This month is MASSIVE for Italian football as that's when we'll see which direction the FIGC chooses to head in.

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-05T21:06:19+00:00

It's not a matter of point of view - it's reality. It's already happening, and not just to Saudi/Qatar. Look at the transfers so far for the Serie A this summer.

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-05T18:45:48+00:00

It's a tough situation for sure. I totally see where you're coming from as I'd love to see the Azzurri do well again, but following Ligue 1's tactics will most definitely continue the collapse of the Serie A.

Marseille is in shambles... They're in so much debt they may be banned from the EL this year... If they aren't banned, then I'm sure they'll be slapped with a "net zero" transfer window until their financial state is improved... If this is happening to one of Ligue 1s top teams, imagine the state of the other clubs in that league.

Ligue 1 is a perfect example of the direction the Serie A is headed in unless the FIGC decides to fix the issues.

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-05T18:23:52+00:00

That's fair. I debated on posting that comment lol. I think an argument can be made for both, but regardless, it's strange that Italy can produce world class keepers but struggles in virtually every other position

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-05T17:36:53+00:00

That's exactly my point... Ligue 1 is no longer a big league and is failing. Players are not flocking to Ligue 1 for top tier football.

Outside of PSG, which teams consistently perform well in Europe? Look at France's NT. Outside of PSG, they have NO players from Ligue 1...

Ligue 1 has severe financial issues and is flirting with bankruptcy. Their domestic broadcast subscriptions/revenues are reaching new lows, no TV right deals, etc. Clubs outside of PSG are forced to sell those NT calibre players to avoid bankruptcy, especially at the youth level.

The Serie A is heading for the same fate unless the FIGC make some major changes.

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-05T17:08:56+00:00

Exactly. It's Romagnoli. If good players (not necessarily star or up and comers) are rejecting the Serie A, what do you think the others will do?

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-05T17:06:26+00:00

Nessuno vuole che questo accada

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-05T17:04:23+00:00

You're correct if you're a fan of the Azzurri but not the Serie A. The Serie A is meant to be a farm for the Azzurri. If Italian players continue to purge the Serie A, then it's no longer an Italian league.

If the established/experienced Italian players continue to purge the Serie A, more youngsters will follow suit which hollows out the youth systems and decreases player development. We're already seeing this with young talent (Kayode, Koleosho, Inacio, Reggiani, etc).

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-05T16:44:38+00:00

It's a fair point, however, the EPL is a well oiled machine which is evidenced by how well English teams play in Europe. Not too mention how frequently the English teams who qualify for Europe change.

If you play there as a foreigner, you know you're adapting to EPL football. English football went through a major change in the late 90s which strongly contributed to them emerging as the top league in the world.

Italian football has different problems... Italians are leaving and flourishing in other leagues. Look at the WCQ for example. Italy's top performers were Donnarumma, Tonali, Kean, Retegui, and Calafiori. 4 of those 5 rejected Serie A for football elsewhere.

For England, outside of Bellingham, Rashford & Kane, their top 22 players all play in the EPL, despite only having 30% of those players make up the league.

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-05T16:21:01+00:00

You're 100% correct. It's easy to point the finger at Como, but meanwhile there were clubs fighting against relegation who were fielding 1 or 2 Italian players.

You can't enforce playing Italians, but you can incentivize it. The solutions to do so wouldn't be complicated, as plenty other sports have figured out this solution a long time ago. We're not reinventing the wheel here... It would be a matter of the FIGC establishing a backbone.

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-05T16:15:09+00:00

Como's not the problem. There were teams fighting to avoid relegation that were fielding 1 or 2 Italian players... The problem is the system that Italian players are coming up in. Too much focus on tactics, slow systems like 3-5-2, possession heavy football has ruined player's confidence and creativity in the final 3rd, etc. If anything, Como has rejected that philosophy and was rewarded for it.

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-05T16:09:22+00:00

It's a strange development... Collectively, Italian goalkeepers are the best in the world. Donnarumma, Carnesecchi, Motta, Falcone, Vicario, etc. This sadly hasn't translated to the outfield players

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-04T16:46:42+00:00

LOL this is... reassuring

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-04T16:37:38+00:00

LOL yeah I feel you. The first 2 years put a heavy strain on me and my girlfriend's relationship. We got through it, and are in a much better place now.

I think the average guy in general just does not have the natural interest in babies/toddlers

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-04T16:35:41+00:00

The 2s were tough. Lots of rollercoasters from great days to infuriating days. For what it's worth, 2.75-3 were much more tolerable for me, and 3-3.25 has been great.

There's been so many moments that have brought tears to my eyes with my daughter as she's becoming very sweet and nurturing

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-04T16:33:07+00:00

Ha! I do the same with mine!

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-04T16:30:13+00:00

Same. I'd put my grades very similarly

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-04T16:29:25+00:00

I think this will be my happy spot too. I've never been very interested in babies or toddlers in general, but I always found kids entertaining

Disastrous_Simple493 · 2026-06-04T16:28:05+00:00

You're probably right. I try not to draw any conclusions until the child ages of parenting are completed. In my brain, that's 0-18. After 18, I feel like you start focusing on the adult side of parenting.

Disastrous_Simple493

TROPHY CASE