Cagliarli manager Claudio Ranieri has stated his belief that there are too many foreign players in Italian football and that hinders the development of homegrown talent.
The presence of too many foreign players has been a talking point in Calcio for many years and as per Transfermarkt, French players make up for 8.9 percent of the total Serie A players and Argentine players make up 6.9 percent. Serie A has 245 Italian players, which is much more than the number of French players (34).
Ranieri recently spoke to Radio 1 (via TMW) about the Serie A and he gave his views about the development of footballers and he stated that too many foreign players are a problem for the Italian game.
He said: “We have many foreigners in Italy and the Italian players who want to emerge make a little more effort. We are seeing Raspadori, Frattesi, players on the launching pad, they are doing well and will certainly be fundamental points for the national team of the future. But many players are a little closed off by the many foreigners we have.”
He was also asked about whether this impacts the growth of the national team and Ranieri responded: “Certainly, if we talk about Italy, the fact that many, many foreigners play, there are necessarily young people who could be valid who have their doors closed a bit. But it seems to me that there are very good players and let’s see. What we lack is a bit of attack, I believe that Scamacca, Raspadori, Immobile, all those we are bringing in, can do their part. It is logical that they must be helped by the midfielders, by the defenders, but it seems to me that we are on the right path.”
FBRef state that more Italian players play in the Serie A than the number of English players who play in the Premier League, even though Serie A has a higher amount of nationalities. Whether Ranieri’s argument holds weight or not is a rather complex discussion to have.
Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN
