Of all of the Scottish gamers to have graced Serie A in recent times, Kieron Bowie might properly have had essentially the most eventful begin.
The striker joined relegation-threatened Hellas Verona from Hibernian halfway by final season. Thrust right into a sink-or-swim scenario, he in some way ended up doing each.
Bowie’s 4 league targets included strikes on the Allianz Stadium and San Siro to earn attracts in opposition to Juventus and champions Inter, however he was in the end powerless to forestall the Gialloblu’s slide to relegation.
An attention-grabbing half-season wasn’t sufficient to persuade Steve Clarke to deliver the 23-year-old to the World Cup as a part of his Scotland squad, a gut-punch of disappointment to go along with the demotion.
Bowie might solely watch on from afar as his nation toiled in entrance of objective in the US, but when his momentum from final season continues, the subsequent Scotland supervisor will discover the Kirkcaldy-born striker arduous to disregard.
His targets and performances in a Verona shirt ensured he ended the marketing campaign with a revered and rising fame on the peninsula, making a Serie A change look probably properly earlier than his transfer to Sassuolo was confirmed final week.
Kieron Bowie made an enormous impression in a brief area of time at Verona
‘In just some months in Italy he has proven his worth,’ stated Sassuolo sporting director Francesco Palmieri. ‘He has vital traits and remains to be fairly younger. I’m satisfied that he can contribute to this group and assist us take steps ahead.’
Bowie has joined the Neroverdi on a season-long mortgage with the choice to purchase, linking up with Josh Doig on the Mapei Stadium after finishing an categorical model of his fellow Scot’s profession path; the left-back swapped Easter Street for Verona in 2022 earlier than becoming a member of Sassuolo a year-and-a-half later.
They’re two of seven Scots at present on the books of Serie A golf equipment, together with Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour at Napoli, Lewis Ferguson at Bologna, Che Adams at Torino and Lennon Miller at Udinese.
Doig misplaced his beginning spot within the second half of final season, however the participant who usurped him within the pecking order, Ulisses Garcia, has since returned to mum or dad membership Marseille, and the previous Hibee may benefit from a training change too.
Alberto Aquilani’s appointment because the successor to Fiorentina-bound Fabio Grosso was one of many extra intriguing Serie A training modifications of the summer time.
The 42-year-old former Liverpool midfielder has solely two seasons of senior teaching expertise on his CV, each at Serie B stage, however has a rising fame as considered one of Italy’s rising star tacticians – and Bowie was his first main new signing.
Bowie will keep in Serie A on a season-long mortgage with Sassuolo, who’ve an choice to purchase
‘He’s a younger and vital participant, with helpful talents that we’re missing proper now,’ Aquilani stated of the Scot. ‘He will certainly give us a hand.’
Different notable names within the Sassuolo ranks embrace ex-Manchester United and Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic, simply 4 years Aquilani’s junior at 38, star winger Armand Lauriente and membership legend Domenico Berardi.
Veteran Matic is the exception fairly than the norm within the squad, as Sassuolo have a fame as a launchpad membership, the place proficient children are given alternatives and enterprising soccer is inspired.
That has been the case since they earned promotion to Serie A for the very first time again in 2013 and took Italian soccer by storm by qualifying for Europe two years later underneath Eusebio di Francesco.
Explaining why he selected Sassuolo final summer time, Matic stated: ‘They defined how the membership works, the significance of kids… it’s nice to have so many younger guys round, I will be helpful and clarify a number of issues to assist them develop.’
Italy internationals like Giacomo Raspadori, Francesco Acerbi, Manuel Locatelli, Gianluca Scamacca, Matteo Politano and Davide Frattesi all made their names in Neroverdi shirts, whereas others have earned massive strikes off the again of sturdy seasons, most not too long ago Tarik Muharemovic with a £34million transfer to Leeds United.
Expertise-spotting and squad constructing have been key to the membership’s success in establishing itself as a Serie An everyday; they’ve been relegated simply as soon as since first reaching the top-flight in 2013 however bounced straight again up as Serie B champions in 2024-25 earlier than kicking on to complete in a formidable eleventh final time period underneath Grosso.
Bowie in motion for Scotland Beneath-21s in opposition to Spain’s World Cup sensation Pau Cubarsi
One main change and problem this summer time, although, has been the departure of one of many primary architects of that success, CEO and common supervisor Giovanni Carnevali, who joined Juventus after 12 years in put up.
Throughout Carnevali’s tenure, Sassuolo turned a longtime Serie A power, certified for Europe and opened a brand new coaching facility.
None of that was a given, regardless of the membership having rich homeowners behind them within the type of the Squinzi household, homeowners of chemical product manufacturing big Mapei.
Sassuolo’s roots are in any other case modest. The city, located in Italy’s northern Emilia-Romagna area not removed from Modena and Bologna, has a inhabitants of round 40,000 and a stadium so small that the membership as an alternative purchased what’s now the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia, 30km (19 miles) away, to make use of as their residence floor.
Solely 5 golf equipment in Serie A personal their stadium (Juventus, Udinese, Frosinone and Atalanta are the others), however Sassuolo have all the time struggled to draw massive crowds as a small-town membership with restricted success. As such, the house assist is commonly outnumbered by the travelling contingent, significantly when the large golf equipment come to city. For Bowie, that could be no unhealthy factor; all 4 of his targets for Verona got here on the street, as did his sole help in opposition to Parma.
The Scot’s primary competitors for the beginning striker spot within the season forward can be Andrea Pinamonti, a 27-year-old Inter youth product who scored 9 targets for the membership final season and has hit double figures in three of the final 5 Serie A campaigns. Pinamonti remains to be ready for a very prolific breakthrough yr however will probably start the season as first selection.
The squad-building for 2026-27 remains to be ongoing, with younger midfielder Vasilije Adzic signing from Juventus on Monday to bolster Aquilani’s choices as his imaginative and prescient takes form.
The younger coach starred for the likes of Roma and Fiorentina as a cultured midfielder throughout his taking part in days and had a spell with Sassuolo in the direction of the top of his profession too.
Expectations of entertaining soccer are excessive, if Gazzetta dello Sport’s headline on a clip of a passing transfer in a pre-season pleasant is something to go by: ‘Aquilani like Guardiola? Sassuolo’s transfer is out of a online game.’
The hype comes after he led unfancied Catanzaro to the Serie B playoff remaining final season following a sabbatical yr spent learning his teaching contemporaries.
Former Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani is the Sassuolo supervisor and is very regarded
‘[Roberto] De Zerbi is a buddy, I speak to him nearly each day, and each time I might, I went to Marseille,’ Aquilani instructed Gazzetta dello Sport. ‘[Cesc] Fabregas had piqued my curiosity, so I went to see him at work. He impressed me, I wished to speak to him.’
Regardless of his lack of Serie A expertise, Aquilani is getting his personal gamers excited in addition to the press and followers.
‘Aquilani positively is aware of soccer…collectively we wish to go to Europe,’ Matic stated.
‘He was joking,’ Aquilani later smiled in response. ‘It’s positive, ambition have to be a part of our mind-set.’
Whether or not an excellent return to Europe is on the playing cards or not, Bowie will probably discover the possibilities come simpler than they did in Verona with the likes of Berardi and Lauriente round him and Aquilani within the dugout.
The final six months might have been a whirlwind for the Kirkcaldy man, however he’s simply getting began.
