'In our DNA' - how the Scots took over Italian football

Scotland midfielders Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour helped Napoli win their fourth Serie A title last season - they return to action against Sassuolo on Saturday (17:30 BST)

Phones buzzed and wry smiles broadened inside the Scotland camp as the Serie A fixtures dropped in June - Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour of Italian champions Napoli would open the season at Josh Doig's newly promoted Sassuolo.

Doig, who would make his international debut later that week, beamed at the thought of facing Gilmour - someone he grew up playing youth football against - as well as McTominay, a man who returns not just as the league's player of the season, but a Ballon d'Or nominee and Neapolitan hero.

"It's just mad," says 23-year-old left back Doig, who helped Sassuolo return to the top flight at the first time of asking under Italian World Cup winner Fabio Grosso.

"Scott did unbelievable last season, he is like a god now and he deserves it because he is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet in football.

"I watched most of their games last season. Any Scottish guy in Italy I will always take an interest in, because we are all in it together."

That Scottish contingent is only growing - six of June's international squad will play in Serie A this season, with Che Adams at Torino, Lewis Ferguson at Bologna and 18-year-old midfielder Lennon Miller joining Udinese from Motherwell.

Trailblazer Liam Henderson, meanwhile, is at second-tier Sampdoria, his sixth Italian club.

The midfielder arrived at Bari in 2018 as the first Scot to play in Italy since Graeme Souness left Sampdoria in 1986. Aaron Hickey, now at Brentford, then became the first to score in Serie A in 35 years when he netted for Bologna in September 2021.

Doig, meanwhile, is about to begin his fourth season in Italy after leaving Hibernian for Verona aged 19, before joining Sassuolo in January last year.

"Italy is one of the most beautiful countries in the world," explains Doig. "Food-wise, places to go on holiday - it has got everything. The way of life is unbelievable. I enjoy every moment.

"But football-wise as well, it is a tough league, it is a very difficult league, and you really need to work hard - it is expected of you.

"The Italians are known for their defensive work rate and their strong backlines, and the Scottish way is we're all workers, that's what we do. It's in our DNA."

Josh Doig says he has learned a lot under Sassuolo boss and World Cup-winning left-back Fabio Grosso

While Doig has enjoyed the cultural hubs of Verona and Modena, and Ferguson and Hickey the culinary delights of Bologna, few cities compare to the intensity of a frenzied and chaotic Naples.

Gilmour and McTominay quickly found that out when they joined Antonio Conte's side from Brighton and Manchester United, respectively, in summer 2024.

"I saw the passionate fans, I saw the coach, I saw the players and I saw an opportunity," McTominay told BBC Scotland in December. "I love this place, I love the fans, I love my team-mates."

By the end of the season, his 12 goals having helped fire Napoli to the Scudetto, McTominay's face was painted on walls in the Quartieri Spagnoli, and his 'McFratm' nickname inked on fans' skins.

He has entered into a pantheon of Partenopei legends topped by Argentina legend Diego Maradona.

Speaking at Wimbledon in July, the 28-year-old added: "The people in Naples are incredible, they're so passionate and everywhere you go there are people who say 'Forza Napoli'.

"They want to speak to you and have a conversation and that inspires you every time you go on the pitch because they care.

"It's different, a totally different way of life over there - the way you eat, the way you live and all that. It gives you more mental strength."

"Everything was great about Italy, bar the football," said the late Denis Law, who made a British-record move to Torino in 1961 and spent the season alongside Scotland-raised England international Joe Baker in an era characterised by Italy's ultra-defensive catenaccio system.

Joe Jordan, dubbed the Shark by Italian media, followed in 1981, joining AC Milan and then Verona, before Souness won the Coppa Italia in 1985 during his first of two seasons at a Sampdoria side emerging as one of Italy's finest.

But it would be 32 years before another Scotsman made the switch. Henderson, joining Serie B side Bari from Celtic, was also the first to move directly from a Scottish club.

Henderson may have been an anomaly when he signed, but he did give Italian fans a taste of the Scottish game.

"Their mentality, they are hungry players, ​​committed, both inside the pitch and outside the pitch. They are so professional," explains Francesco Strozzi, who was a scout at Bologna when the club signed Ferguson and Hickey and now works for Torino.

"Of course, on the pitch there is a trend about increasing physical football. So we're talking about making runs for the team, having two phases, attacking, defending - especially when it comes to midfielders.

"It's something being recognised also by the fans. The intensity, the physicality, the hunger for results - they're loved for that."

Strozzi says the real change came when Covid hit. Bologna were already exploring the Scottish market, but lockdown restrictions meant clubs were forced to rely more on video and data analysis, which inevitably broadened their pool of potential recruits.

They found value in Scotland, where young players were gaining first-team experience and, in some cases, registering minutes in European competitions.

"Scottish football is not just about Celtic and Rangers," adds Strozzi.

Aged 18 and on the radar of some of Europe's top clubs, Hickey joined Bologna from Hearts for £1.5m in 2020, making 48 appearances over two seasons before being sold to Brentford for £17m.

Ferguson, 22 at the time, followed from Aberdeen in 2022 for £3m and has since captained the Rossoblu to a first Coppa Italia triumph in more than 50 years, led them into the Champions League for the first time and been named the best midfielder in Italy.

"Ferguson is an incredible player, captain," says Strozzi. "He was able to give Bologna what was missing back then in their midfield - a player giving 100% for the team, making important runs, scoring important goals but also being able to run back, defend and be a presence on the pitch.

"Of course, that was amplified with McTominay going to Napoli. What Ferguson did in the background, being almost unknown to the mainstream fans here in Italy, McTominay did in the highlights coming from Manchester United."

Liam Henderson became a cult hit with fans after a spat with Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic - reportedly mocking the forward's price tag

Doig believes the trend can be good for the national team, with Scottish players not just finding a pathway to Italy but all over Europe. At the last international camp, he says there were chats about "completely different experiences all over the world".

"It is so interesting for Scottish football," adds Doig. "There are boys everywhere now, it is good for the culture.

"When you are a young boy, the thing is to go down to England, try and get a move down south, but when I heard Verona were interested I thought 'this is unbelievable'.

"I was terrified, obviously I was so young, but it was the best thing that could happen to me. Now in Sassuolo, I am absolutely loving it.

"It is the same for all the boys I have spoken to - I was with Billy in the summer and he was just saying he can't get enough of it."

When Steve Clarke named his last squad, as well as the Italian boys, there was Jack Hendry at Al-Etiffaq in Saudi Arabia, Max Johnston with Sturm Graz in Austria and Scott McKenna at Las Palmas in Spain.

Doig says younger players have also asked him about moving abroad.

"I just said to them: 'Look, if you get the chance, it doesn't have to be Italy, it can be anywhere, just get out of the UK - football is a platform where you can stay in other countries, travelling but for work. It's unbelievable. It's just getting out of that comfort zone. It will help you and it is life experience forever.'"