Rangers lost out to Sassuolo for Josh Doig with the former Hibernian left-back now tipped to follow in the footsteps of some of Serie A’s biggest recent movers at the Mapei Stadium.
While a return to Scotland may have held some appeal for a man who shot to fame over in Edinburgh, Josh Doig was not short of reasons to put pen to paper with Sassuolo either before sealing his £5 million switch late last week.
In recent years, a number of talented young Scots have been rewarded for making the trip to Italy. Lewis Ferguson is going from strength-to-strength at Bologna, while Aaron Hickey earned himself a £14 million move to Brentford after two years in Emilia-Romagna.
Doig, who had been identified as a target by Rangers earlier in the window, could also become the latest player to pass through Sassuolo’s renowned finishing school should all go to plan.
Giovanni Carnevali, the club’s CEO, is certainly making no secret of his desire to see Doig earn the Neroverdi a substantial profit later down the line.
Sassuolo sign Rangers target Josh Doig from Hellas Verona
“He is part of our plans,” Carnevali tells Tuttomercatoweb. “We signed him because he is young. We have made a good investment. I hope that he can be one of the many players who grows at Sassuolo.
“And, then, has a future at a big club.”
Manuel Locatelli, Gianluca Scamacca, Hamed Traore, Gianluca Raspadori, Jeremie Boga, Stefano Sensi, Merih Demiral and Matteo Politano all honed their talents at the Mapei Stadium, earning Sassuolo around £170 million when completing big moves to the likes of Juventus, West Ham, Inter Milan and Napoli.
Carnevali obviously sees no reason why Doig cannot make a similar impression in green-and-black.
“Vina left (for Flamengo) and was replaced with Doig,” the Sassuolo CEO adds. “We made the financial sacrifice with Doig. We made an effort.”
Ridvan Yilmaz future still uncertain
Rangers, meanwhile, could yet step up their pursuit of a new left-back before the window closes next week. Ajax starlet Anass Salah-Eddine is the latest to be linked. Much will depend, however, on whether Ridvan Yilmaz moves back to Turkey.
Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk certainly fuelled the rumours on Wednesday. He admitted that a left-sided full-back is a ‘priority’ for the Turkish challengers.
