From Carbone to Barreca: all the Italians in Premier League The full list of all the Italian players emigrated to the Premier League from 1995 to today
The English top tier, a bit like English society in general, has always been a open world, not only for worthy people. Among the foreigners who have had a chance to express themselves across the Channel there have been players from all over the world, and of course also from Italy. From Andrea Silenzi, the first Italian to land in the Premier League back in 1995 before the transfer boom, to Antonio Barreca, the left-back who has just moved to Newcastle, almost 25 years passed: in the middle a long list made of big characters able to leave the mark forever in the memories of English fans, but also many meteors. Let's think about the Chelsea, for example, where have passed with alternating fortune icons such as Gianfranco Zola, Gianluca Vialli and Carlo Cudicini but also fleeting extras like Massimo Ambrosetti and Marco Ambrosio. Let's think about Paolo Di Canio's and Fabrizio Ravanelli's performances, or the mistake with which Massimo Taibi showed up in the Manchester United debut or the expectations placed on the young Arturo Lupoli at Arsenal. For someone, the English period ended triumphantly (Mario Balotelli was one the main protagonists in the historic title won by the City in 2014), for others an experience to be forgotten quickly (as happened recently with Simone Zaza and Alberto Paloschi). At the moment, if we count the newcomer Barreca, actually in Premier League only 6 Italians are playing: Matteo Damian (Manchester United), Adam Masina (Watford) and the three teammates at Chelsea, Davide Zappacosta, Emerson Palmieri and Jorginho. So why not list all those who played at least a minute (among these are not Marco Amelia and Emiliano Viviano who have never debuted with Chelsea and Arsenal), so as to whet the collective memory and give space to memories? They are many more than you imagine and we are sure you will not remember some of them at all!
'90s
Andrea Silenzi (Nottingham Forest) 1995/1997
Benito Carbone (Sheffield Wed., Aston Villa, Bradford, Derby County, Middlesbrough) 1996/2002
Gianluca Vialli (Chelsea) 1996/1999
Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea) 1996/2003
Roberto Di Matteo (Chelsea) 1996/2001
Gianluca Festa (Middlesbrough) 1996/1997, 1998/2002
Fabrizio Ravanelli (Middlesbrough) 1996/1997, (Derby County) 2001/2002
Paolo Di Canio (Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham, Charlton) 1997/2004
Francesco Sanetti (Sheffield Wednesday) 1997/1999
Stefano Eranio (Derby County) 1997/2001
Francesco Baiano (Derby County) 1997/2000
Nicola Berti (Tottenham) 1997/1999
Attilio Lombardo (Crystal Palace) 1997/1998
Patrizio Billio (Crystal Palace) 1997/1998
Ivano Bonetti (Crystal Palace) 1997/1998
Michele Padovano (Crystal Palace) 1997/1998
Alessandro Pistone (Newcastle, Everton) 1997/2006
Paolo Tramezzani (Tottenham) 1998/1999
Dario Marcolin (Blackburn) 1998/1999
Marco Branca (Middlesbrough) 1998/1999
Stefano Gioacchini (Coventry) 1998/1999
Marco Materazzi (Everton) 1998/1999
Pierluigi Casiraghi (Chelsea) 1999/1999
Massimo Ambrosetti (Chelsea) 1999/2000
Carlo Cudicini (Chelsea, Tottenham) 1999/2011
Samuele Dalla Bona (Chelsea) 1999/2002
Massimo Taibi (Manchester United) 1999/2000
