Last week Tottenham Hotspur confirmed the signing of Croatian star Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan, in a deal that will no doubt appease Italian manager Antonio Conte.
It’s no surprise that Conte is looking to shop in his home country and having worked with Perisic previously at Inter, will be acutely aware of how well he can perform in a wing-back role.
According to a Italian legend Fabio Cannavaro, though, the ease with which Tottenham were able to do the deal is worrying.
“Perisic’s move to the Premier League isn’t a good sign,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport, which was carried by Football Italia.
“It’s complicated for Serie A sides to fill the gap with La Liga and Premier League clubs,” added Cannavaro.
The last defender to win the Ballon D’Or, Cannavaro was part of an era of Italian football where Serie A would compete for the biggest names in the game. Since the growth of Real Madrid and Barcelona alongside the Premier League however, Italian clubs have been operating at a different financial level.
He has a point too. The defeat of the European Superleague was seen as a victory for football, but it hasn’t brought in the kind of widespread change that many wanted to see. With money being pooled in the Premier League, there’s a very realistic possibility that the Premier League ends up looking similar to a Superleague in the not too distant future.