The Italian Government has abandoned the Growth Decree, causing ‘shock and worry’ among Serie A clubs who had signed several stars in the past, from Cristiano Ronaldo to Romelu Lukaku, thanks to the financial incentive.
The Italian Government has decided to scrap the Growth Decree from January 2024. It is a law that has allowed Italian football clubs to save circa 50% of gross salaries of employees moving or returning to the country after two or more years, for five years.
This allowed Serie A clubs to be more competitive, offering players moving from abroad a higher net salary. Thanks to the Growth Decree, several stars moved to Italy over the last few years. The most notable is surely Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Juventus in 2019. The Bianconeri wouldn’t have been able to afford his €30m-a-year salary without the financial incentive.
It was used by Milan to sign Charles De Ketelaere from Club Brugge in the summer of 2022 and Juventus to get Paul Pogba and Angel Di Maria in the same transfer window.
Inter and Roma used it for Romelu Lukaku. The Nerazzurri did it for the first time in 2019 when the Belgian joined the club from Manchester United; and in 2022 when he returned to San Siro on loan. Roma activated it when Big Rom moved to the Stadio Olimpico last summer because the decree applies for five consecutive years, so in Lukaku’s case, it expires in June 2024 even if the striker has spent a year abroad.
There are many other examples: Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Milan in 2020, Luka Jovic to Fiorentina in 2022 and even José Mourinho, who was appointed by Roma in 2021.