Souness, Law, Ferguson & Scottish footballers who played in Serie A

A legendary figure at Manchester United, but there was a time when Torino signed Aberdeen-born forward Denis Law for a record transfer fee of £110,000 involving a British player back in 1961.

Inter had complained that the Scot signed a pre-contract with them but backed out of their claim ahead of the season.

However, Law - who was joined by English striker Joe Baker - found it difficult to adapt to life in Turin. From the language barrier to contrasting cultures and style of football, the performance-based payment system was also something that was not particularly enjoyable for him.

Law and Baker were involved in a car crash, soon after which the 1964 Ballon d'Or winner initially put in a transfer request before he was eventually transferred to Man United.

It was Jordan's first overseas escapade when he joined AC Milan from Manchester United in 1981. In his first season in Italy, when the Rossoneri had just made it back to Serie A, the forward scored just two league goals in 22 games as the team were relegated.

After spending a year in Serie B and turning down an opportunity to stay at Milan for another shot in the Italian top flight in the following year, Jordan made his Serie A come-back with Verona in the 1983-84 season before returning to the UK. It was after the Yellow and Blues' initial gamble to use his physical prowess didn't pay off to their liking.

Incidentally, Jordan would miss out on Verona lifting the league title in the very next season.

Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli and Trevor Francis all made their way to Stadio Luigi Ferraris when Souness joined the Genoa-based club in 1984.

The midfielder was fresh from a successful phase in his playing career as he had just won his fifth league title, fourth League Cup and third European Cup with Liverpool when Sampdoria president Paolo Mantovani signed the then 31-year-old.

With the club just moving back into Serie A, Souness did what he did best and won his first piece of silverware in Italy as Sampdoria beat AC Milan to the Coppa Italia title, with the Scot scoring the only goal in the first leg of the final.

Before heading to Rangers, Souness was part of the Blucerchiati's European campaign that finished in the Round of 16.

After over three decades, Henderson became the first Scottish footballer since Souness to play in Serie A.

The former Celtic star, although beginning his Italian sojourn with then Serie B side Bari, made his bow in the country's top flight with Verona in 2019. That was also after spending the initial season of his four-year contract in Serie B.

With Henderson playing a vital role in Verona's promotion, he also became the first Scotsman to score in a Serie A match since Souness in 1986.

The former Scotland Under-21 international currently plays for Empoli in Serie A.

The left-back reportedly chose Bologna over Bayern Munich over first-team opportunities. Having joined from Hearts, young Hickey took Serie A by storm.

Even though his first season in Italy was cut short due to injury in March 2021, he had already gained a reputation good enough to end up as a 2021 Golden Boy award nominee.

Returning from injury in the following season, Hickey scored five league goals in 36 appearances, and there was claimed interest from European giants such as AC Milan and Manchester United.

However, after equaling Souness' tally of five goals in a single Serie A season for a Scotsman, he moved to Brentford in the Premier League.

Hendry joined Serie A outfit Cremonese on loan from Club Brugge in September 2022. The Cremona-based side had the option to buy before the centre-back was recalled by his parent club in January 2023.

He made four league appearances in the Italian top flight but, since his return to Belgium, hasn't played for Brugge after injuring his knee in the 2-0 win over Gent on February 26. As a result, he lost his place to Blackburn defender Dominic Hyam in the Scotland squad for the next Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Cagliari were seen scouting the former Aberdeen midfielder and had purportedly readied a £3.5 million bid for him in the 2022 winter transfer window. Still, Bologna would eventually bag Ferguson's signature for an undisclosed transfer fee ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Playing abroad for the first time, Ferguson made his Serie A debut against AC Milan in a match that ended in a 2-0 defeat for Bologna.

However, he soon showed his strength at being the dynamic link going forward and scored in against the likes of Lecce, Monza and Sassuolo. The goal against Sassuolo was also voted as the Serie A goal of the Month (November 2022).

With the first equaliser in the 2-2 draw against Salernitana on 18 March 2023, Ferguson has four Serie A goals this season.

Doig attracted plenty of interest ever since the defender announced himself with his performances with Scottish Premiership side Hibernian.

Amid interest from the likes of Arsenal, Celtic, Chelsea and Leicester City, besides Hibs rejecting a £2.5million offer tabled by Watford, Doig put pen to paper to a new contract that would keep him at Easter Road till 2026.

Sassuolo were also believed to be watching over the developments, but fellow Serie A side Verona completed a deal for him worth over £3million in transfer fees as Doig signed a four-year contract with the latter till the summer of 2026.