Rosen Bozhinov became the second player this January to leave the Belgian Pro League to join Serie A. Pisa, who are currently bottom of the Italian top flight, apparently spent around โฌ6-7m on the defender. For Belgian clubs, that is a decent return, especially for Antwerp who are in need of cash. Bozhinov has played 26 games for Antwerp since joining in 2024 as a teenager, and while he has shown promise, the jury is still out on how much better he can get.
Omri Gandelman was the other player to leave the Pro League. He followed a path that has been trodden by a handful of other players by swapping Belgium for Lecce. The Italian side reportedly spent โฌ3.7m on the midfielder, who was Gentโs top scorer this season. Yet, while Gandelman is a strangely effective goal scorer, timing his runs late and being in the right place at the right time, his overall play meant he wasnโt favoured by some of his coaches during his time with the Buffaloes.
Lion Lauberbach has been linked with Venezia of Serie B, and Lecce also brought in Nikola Stulic from Charleroi in the summer. In 19 games for the side, Stulic has scored twice. These moves arenโt in isolation, and have been a trend Iโve noticed in recent years following the Belgian Pro League, that being Serie A sides outside of the big names spending reasonably large sums of money on players that just donโt seem to be ready to play in a top five league.
Lecce are a prime example of this. Yes, Stulic had done well with Charleroi. Yet, for those watching him, no one really believed he was a Serie A level striker. Just a few months earlier, Lecce signed an player who hadnโt proven himself to be a top level Pro League player. Konan NโDri somehow earned himself a move to Lecce off the back of four goals and two assists in 27 games for OH Leuven. Now, I was a big fan of NโDri during his time at Eupen and thought he could go on to become a better player. However, he never seemed to take that next step. He certainly didnโt seem ready for a Serie A move. NโDri has played 26 games for Lecce since making the move, with two goals scored and no assists.
Parma also spent big on a few Pro League players. The first was Jacob Ondrejka during the winter window of the 2024/2025 season. Ondrejka had some great games for Antwerp, scoring seven goals and providing five assists in 26 games that season. He went on to score five goals in 12 games for Parma and looked to be a good addition. However, this season he has only played in nine games, with no goals or assists. He was injured up until November, so hopefully he will be able to regain some fitness.
Parma also brought in Matija Frigan this past summer, parting with โฌ9m for the Croatian forward. Sadly, Frigan was injured before he could even make his Parma debut. During the 2024/2025 season, Frigan scored 14 goals in 41 games. A decent return, but โฌ9m is a lot of money in Belgian football. Hopefully he will prove to be a success in Serie A, depending on if Parma can avoid being relegated down to Serie B.
Yet, while Lecce havenโt made great signings when it comes to the Pro League, Parma can at least point to Zion Suzuki as one success story. The 23-year-old cost โฌ8.2m from Sint Truiden and had a great first season. He was performing well again this season up until his injury.
During the season that Parma brought in Suzuki, Venezia were back in Serie A and went shopping again in Belgium. The last time the side had been in Serie A they had signed Thomas Henry from OH Leuven. The striker did okay in Serie A, with nine goals in 34 games. Venezia shopped at OH Leuven again in 2024/2025, signing Richie Sagrado and Joel Schingtienne for a combined โฌ5m. The two played a combined 20 Serie A games, with Schingtienne playing 16 of these. Both have now been regulars in Serie B as the side fight for a return to Serie A.
So why are these signings interesting? In a way, for those who watch the Pro League, you feel like you have a handle on the players ready for a move top five league. Ardon Jashari and Charles De Ketelaere were two high profile Serie A signings, and neither were a surprise when AC Milan brought them in. Suzuki was also one that made sense given how well he had performed for Sint Truiden.
Yet the other players on this list all have enough flaws to question whether or not the investment from these Serie A clubs was worthwhile, especially when we consider that these are teams trying to stay in the top flight. Pisa are bottom of Serie A but parting with a substantial amount of money to sign a 20-year-old defender that is unlikely to help them avoid relegation this season. Lecce have signed a player that offers little outside of goals and will now face midfielders of higher quality. Gandelmanโs eye for goal should still help him in Serie A, but his flaws may be exposed to a greater extent. Given how Stulic, who scored 16 goals in 29 games for Charleroi last season, has struggled to get goals in Italy, it is strange that Lecce have signed a player like Gandelman.
For the Pro League, Serie A sides willing to spend such amounts on players that may not be ready isnโt a bad thing. Yet, if these players struggle to adapt, at some point clubs in Italy may not see the Pro League as one worth shopping in. Hopefully the likes of Frigan can return from injury and prove that the Pro League does have quality. Signings players isnโt an exact science, and there are obviously other factors involved. But, if the untrained eye can see that a player isnโt ready for a move to a league like the Serie A, surely someone employed by these clubs can also make that assessment?
GBeNeFNย |ย Ben Jackson
