Jobe Bellingham eyed by Serie A giants

Italian clubs have turned attention to the Championship in a bid to find the next Jude Bellingham.  The recent trend has emerged in light of the England international's remarkable impact at Real Madrid after three outstanding campaigns in Germany with Borussia Dortmund following his £25million transfer from Birmingham City in 2020.  Lazio are leading the charge having seen two bids rejected for Sunderland winger Jack Clarke in January and they're expected to reignite interest this summer as the Black Cats have made little progress in contract negotiations with 23-year-old.  Jobe Bellingham is also on their radar after impressing scouts while Lazio also failed with an offer for Plymouth's Morgan Whittaker and an enquiry for Norwich's Jonathan Rowe in the winter window.

Additionally, Atalanta tried to execute a deal for Birmingham's Welsh international Jordan James, who has since been eyed by Fiorentina after staying put in the Midlands.  Meanwhile, Charlie Cresswell emerged as a shock deadline-day option for AC Milan despite struggling for minutes at Leeds, though the move did not materialise. Milan had also previously bid around £6m for Nottingham Forest defender Andrew Omobamidele last summer when he was at Norwich.  Rivals and last season's Champions League finalists Inter had looked at Alex Scott before his big-money transfer to Bournemouth from Bristol City.  An Italian scout, who does not wish to be named, has provided insight behind the craze, telling Mirror Football : "The Championship has a big record for generating talent and it's a fast-paced league with lots of matches. There is a feeling that it is underrated in England and has produced many top players that now play in the Premier League but the talent is not hugely expensive.  "It's not just about Jude but English players have also been successful in Serie A, guys like Chris Smalling, Ruben Loftus Cheek, Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham. They did not come directly from the Championship but these players also did not receive the appreciation they deserved in England."

Serie A clubs, particularly Bologna, have also cherry-picked Scottish players from the SPFL. It all started when Liam Henderson joined Bari in 2018, impressing in Serie B, before moving to Hellas Verona, Lecce and then Empoli.  But Bologna tapped into the surprise market by landing Brentford full-back Aaron Hickey from Hearts while also bidding for Liverpool's Calvin Ramsey before his move from Aberdeen.  Lewis Ferguson has been the greatest success story of them all following his 2022 transfer from The Dons. He is now a regular under Thiago Motta with Bologna currently occupying a Champions League spot.  Bologna also have 22-year-old Englishman Luis Binks on their books, formerly of Tottenham's academy, who is currently on loan at Coventry City. Furthermore, Scotland U21 international Josh Doig recently moved to Sassuolo in January having also been the subject of a bid from Marseille after flourishing at Hellas Verona, who he joined from Hibs.