Dusan Vlahovic and Robin Gosens have snubbed big-money moves to the Premier League, opting to remain in Serie A, a choice that not many other players have made over the years, writes Lorenzo Bettoni.
The Serbia international is on the verge of joining Juventus for €75m, while the Germany full-back will sign for Inter for €25-27m.
Both players had offers from the Premier League but decided to remain in Serie A.
Vlahovic didn’t listen to Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United. The Magpies had also made an attempt to sign Gosens, but the 27-year-old accepted a lower offer from Inter.
Now, the status of Inter and Juventus is much different from those of the above mentioned Premier League clubs who don’t play the Champions League this season and have not been as competitive as both Serie A giants over the last decade.
Despite having an almost unlimited transfer budget, Newcastle even risk facing Premier League relegation.
The reason why Vlahovic, Chiesa and Locatelli snubbed Arsenal for Juventus
Irrespective of that, many players were attracted to Premier League money over the last few years and didn’t base their career choices on the clubs’ project for them.
Look at Paul Pogba, for example. He was supposed to become one of the best midfielders in the world but has never fulfilled his real potential since leaving Juventus for Manchester United.
The France international is once again available as a free agent and will need to make a wiser choice this time, joining a club that can match his ambitions.
Romelu Lukaku is also struggling at Chelsea after a €115m move from Inter. The Belgium international expected a contract extension offer from Inter last summer, but the Nerazzurri didn’t make their move, so Romelu pushed to return to Stamford Bridge.
Many other players failed to impress in the Premier League after a move from Serie A and it’s no coincidence that some of them, such as Felipe Anderson, Juan Cuadrado or even Andriy Shevchenko, eventually decided to move back to Italy.
Lucas Torreira is also returning to his standards in Italy under a brilliant emerging coach such as Vincenzo Italiano.
Vlahovic and Gosens opted not to move to the Premier League at all.
They decided to remain in Italy because they knew what Juventus and Inter have to offer in sporting terms. Vlahovic is also a Juventus fan, so he had one more reason to snub a move to England.
Both he and Gosens know they can continue their growth in Turin and Milan without losing time adapting to a new country, language, and culture. It will be a pleasure for all Serie A fans to continue watching them in the most beautiful league in the world.