Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku are on the verge of making stunning returns to Serie A following difficult spells in the Premier League.
The pair, who were team-mates at Manchester United, are expected to re-join Juventus and Inter respectively.
Both left Serie A for over €100 million but Pogba will return on a free transfer while Lukaku’s deal would more than likely be a loan.
But they wouldn’t the first players to leave Serie A only to return. Here are a few others who enjoyed the best years of their careers in Italy’s top flight.
Juan Sebastian Veron
Spells at Sampdoria, Parma and then Lazio where he won the Scudetto saw the Argentina midfielder become of the world’s best and prompted Manchester United to break their transfer record to sign him for just over €30m.
However, despite glimpses of his genius, he struggle to settle. After two seasons, he joined Chelsea but it went even worse, making just seven Premier League appearances.
Veron returned to Serie A to join Inter where he stayed for two seasons before going back to his native Argentina.
Hernan Crespo
The Argentine forward became the world’s most expensive signing when he joined Lazio from Parma for roughly €55m in 2000 – and three years later, after a season with Inter, he was the statement signing to initiate the Chelsea revolution under Roman Abramovich.
However, he was back in Serie A 12 months later as he joined Milan on loan, where he reached the Champions League final. Crespo then returned to Chelsea for another season but was back at Inter for the following campaign.
He saw out the rest of his career at Genoa and then finished off where it all began in Italy with Parma.
Andriy Shevchenko
Another striker who starred in Serie A, yet it didn’t quite work out for him at Chelsea.
Shevchenko was one of the most feared forwards on the planet: a Ballon d’Or and Champions League-winner, he was supposed to be take Chelsea to the next level yet he was unable to oust Didier Drogba from the starting line-up.
He was an unused sub in the 2007-08 Champions League final which Chelsea lost on penalties and was back with the Rossoneri for a disappointing loan the following campaign.
Kaka
The Brazil playmaker arrived at Milan as a 21-year-old prospect and four years later was a Ballon d’Or and Champions League winner.
In January 2009, he rejected the chance to join newly-rich Manchester City in a deal worth north of €100m, famously holding a Milan shirt out a hotel window – only to move to Real Madrid that summer to briefly become the world’s most expensive player for €67.2m.
Injuries took their toll and Kaka was never truly able to show his form in Spain and was back at Milan three seasons later.
Mario Balotelli
He was the great hope of Italian football as he burst onto the scene at Inter but, for whatever reason, he just couldn’t settle and it seemed like the only thing to do was to try something new.
So Balotelli moved to Man City in 2010 and, despite playing a huge role in the Premier League club winning their first trophy for 35 years and subsequently first title in 44, he was unable to to nail down a starting role and was back in Italy with Milan in January 2013.
He then left for Liverpool before returning then moving to France with first Nice then Marseille before joining hometown club Brescia, who he couldn’t keep up and left, eventually joining then Serie B side Monza. Balotelli is now in Turkey with Adana Demirspor.
Stevan Jovetic
A player of huge potential at Fiorentina who showed his brilliance to the world with a double to down Fiorentina in the Champions League.
Despite longstanding interest from Juventus, he moved to City where he failed to nail down a starting spot and was actually left out of the Champions League squad following the signing of Wilfried Bony in January.
Jovetic briefly returned to Serie A with Inter but left after 18 months and has since been at Sevilla, Monaco and Hertha Berlin.
Gianluigi Buffon
One of the all-time great goalkeepers who was the world’s most expensive in his position for 16 years when he left Parma for Juventus for just under €39m.
Buffon won everything with Juve – apart from something in Europe. With Wojciech Szczesny looking to displace him in Turin, Buffon announced he was leaving and moved to Paris Saint-Germain.
However, he endured a difficult time in France with a mistake which led to their Champions League exit and he left to return to Juve after 12 months. Now 44, he is still going strong with Parma in Serie B.