Two Serie A Scotland stars tipped for moves as £12m price-tag slapped on title winner

It was a hugely successful season for a number of Scottish players in Italy, with Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour winning Serie A with Napoli and Lewis Ferguson lifting the Coppa Italia with Bologna.

However, down in the second tier of Italian football, there was another Scottish success story - with left-back Josh Doig playing a big part in Sassuolo winning Serie B and earning immediate promotion back to the top flight.

Doig has been a regular for Sassuolo this season after joining them from Hellas Verona 18 months ago, and now the 23-year-old is being linked with a move to Juventus.

According to reports in Italy, new Juve manager Igor Tudor’s transfer priority is new wing-backs and the Croatian coach has been impressed by Doig’s development since moving to Italy from Hibs three years ago.

Doig is currently with the Scotland squad ahead of their friendly away to Liechtenstein on Monday night and could win his first cap if selected in Vaduz. But his form with Sassuolo, where he has been one of their chief attacking outlets down the left flank, has caught the eye of Tudor, who is expected to play a 3-5-2 formation at Juventus next season.

Doig’s price-tag

He has also been linked with Bologna wing-back Dan Ddoye, who is also on international duty right now with Switzerland. And if Tudor was to launch a bid for Doig, it could cost Juventus upwards of £12 million to land him, as he contracted to Sassuolo until 2028.

Doig came through the youth ranks at Hibs and was part of the team under Jack Ross that finished third in the Premiership during the 2020/21 campaign. He was sold to Verona in the summer of 2022 and then moved on Sassuolo, although he nearly signed for Marseille in France before the transfer fell apart at the last minute.

Another former Hibs player could be on the move in Italy, with midfielder Liam Henderson weighing up his future after his contract at Empoli expired last month.

A Celtic academy graduate, Henderson was part of the Hibs team that won the Scottish Cup in 2016. He made the move to Italy in 2018 with Bari and has remained there ever since, playing for Verona, Lecce, Palermo and Empoli.

The Tuscan side were relegated to Serie B on the final day of last season, a sad end to Henderson’s four years at the Stadio Carlo Castellani. It now appears, though, that the 29-year-old could be on his way back to British football.

It has been reported that English Championship side Bristol City are weighing up a move for the out-of-contract deep-lying midfielder. Swansea City had also been suggested as a potential suitor, but cold water has been poured on that link by Welsh media outlets.

Henderson was one of the trailblazers for his generation of Scottish players in terms of moving abroad and it will be interesting to see whether he continues his career away from the UK or return closer to home. He is not expected to be short of offers, especially as a free agent.