Italy has a problem, a problem faced by many of its clubs: what to do with the endless flow of young players moving out of the Primavera leagues?
There is no reserve league like there is in Germany or Spain.
Consequently many players are just sent out on loan, creating never-ending lists of players who are plying their trade for clubs they’re not even owned by.
It is plainly time for a reserve league.
FC Barcelona have used the reserve league system to its maximum potential. Barcelona B has sent through many great players to the first team, and many of those players have stayed.
Virtually the entire line-up of stars for Barcelona have played in the team’s successful youth system, the most notable graduate being Lionel Messi.
It has been the successful implementation of Barcelona B, playing just below the level of their senior team that has seen so much success.
So just why does Serie A need this?
Well frankly, Serie A is suffering. They have seen themselves slip from third in the UEFA co-efficient rankings to fourth.
Soon maybe even Ligue 1 has the capacity to overtake them, especially as PSG has the potential to start a trend of billionaires buying glamour clubs in France.
So just what would a reserve league entail?
Well for starters, there is a suggestion that it would place teams into the Lega Pro divisions. Whether or not teams would be allowed to progress higher than that would, I’m sure, come later if teams started achieving such results.
It would centre on teams of players less than 21 years of age, yet allow room for older players who maybe be recovering from injury or have been left out of the senior game day squad.
Already eight clubs have expressed a definite interest in the project. Some of these teams are thriving at senior level (Milan, Juventus, Inter and Udinese), some others are a little further down the table (Sampdoria, Bologna, Parma and Atalanta).
These are the initial teams and if no more join, they would be sure to include them in Lega Pro, rather than having to create a brand new league.
Italy is a country thriving with talent, but this talent is not being fully realised. They failed to qualify for the 2013 U-20 FIFA World Cup.
Winners of the U-19 UEFA Championship, they boast a side that has an abundance of players playing in the second and third tiers of Spanish football, getting solid game time against solid opponents.
The bridge between Italy’s Primavera leagues and senior squad has meant that many players simply don’t achieve their potential because it is too much of a leap.
The likes of Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Insigne, have enjoyed successful loan spells away from their main club which has allowed them to grow as footballers.
However this is not a solution for the vast majority of players, and often sees players spend the rest of their playing careers loaned out to minor clubs with little permanency.
The best way forward for Italian football is to allow main clubs to put teams into the Lega Pro series.
It means that they have a sense of strength as a team, and they proudly get to wear the colours of the senior team against opponents who have great ability.
In the time of austerity, Italy needs to rely on its young players and not the Ibrahimovic and Maradonna signings of yesteryear.
Failure to realise this soon will see Italian football die a slow death.
The likes of El Shaarawy, Lorenzo Insigne, Mattia De Sciglio and Marco Verratti have all survived the jump to first team football but countless others don’t.
Italian football fans can only hope that the FIGC makes the right decision.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Salah was dropped from the starting side for the visit to London - and the striker was involved in a furious confrontation with Klopp…
Liverpool have fallen further out of contention for the Premier League title - but that's perhaps the least of Jurgen Klopp's problems. Just as…
Liverpool have reached a verbal agreement with Feyenoord for their head coach Arne Slot to succeed Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season.…
The past 18-24 months have been an enjoyable ride for Arsenal and their fan-base after almost a decade of turbulence. Mikel Arteta has been…
Manchester City have chalked up another big win in their hunt for an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title, with Phil Foden continuing his…
Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
