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Between the 1990s and the early 2000s, the Serie A was arguably the best league in Europe, with many talented players plying their trade. Many global superstars like Ronaldo Nazario, Zinedine Zidane, Cafu, Michel Platini and Kaka plied their trade in the Serie A during their prime.
However, the situation has vastly changed, with several players now preferring a move to England, Spain or Germany in their prime instead of going to the Serie A.
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Nevertheless, there are plenty of Serie A teams who have a lot of foreign players in their ranks. While some of them are established stars in the team, others are young, and are keen to make their mark in Italian football. On that note, here's a look at the five Serie A teams with the most foreign players at the moment:
#5 AC Milan, Fiorentina, Spezia Calcio - 18
In fifth spot are Serie A giants AC Milan, ACF Fiorentina and last year's promoted team, Spezia Calcio, who all have 18 foreign players in their ranks.
AC Milan, who ended second in the Serie A last season, boast several talented foreign players in their ranks. Denmark captain Simon Kjaer partners England youngster Fikayo Tomori in defence for the Rossoneri. They have also brought in French goalkeeper Mike Maignan this summer to bolster their ranks.
Milan have the likes of Franck Kessi and Tiemoue Bakayoko in midfield, who hail from outside Italy, with the latter joining on a two-year loan spell from Chelsea. In attack, they have the enigmatic Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was their top scorer last season. They have also added French World Cup winner Olivier Giroud to the team this summer.
Fiorentina, meanwhile, had a disappointing Serie A campaign last season, finishing 13th. So they have bolstered their ranks with several talented foreign players. Spanish defender Alvaro Odriozola has arrived on loan from Real Madrid, while Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira has also been brought in on loan from Arsenal.
The Viola also have Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic in their ranks, who scored 21 goals last season. He has attracted a lot of interest from top clubs across Europe. With such key additions to their ranks, Fiorentina will look to hope to do better in the Serie A this season.
Meanwhile, last year's newly promoted side Spezia did pretty well to finish 15th in the Serie A. They have made some decent additions to their squad this summer as they look to stay in the Italian top flight for at least one more season.
#4 Napoli, Bologna, Torino, Venezia - 19
SSC Napoli, Bologna, Torino and newly promoted Venezia are fourth on the list of Serie A teams with the most foreign players, boasting 19 such personnel in their ranks.
Foreign players in Napoli's ranks need no introduction. With the likes of David Ospina, Kalidou Koulibaly, Dries Mertens, Hirving Lozano and Victor Osimhen in their ranks, Napoli have one of the best foreign contingents in the Serie A.
Although they only finished fifth last season, the Gli Azzurri will hope that Luciano Spalletti's appointment as manager will help them achieve better returns this season. They have already started the new season brightly, winning both their league games.
Bologna, who has consistently finished mid-table in Serie A, also have a lot of foreign players in their squad. Austrian international Marko Arnautovic is their most notable foreign player,, while Chilean centre-back Gary Medel also plies his trade at the club.
Torino, who finished 17th to narrowly avoid relegation last season, boast the likes of Ricardo Rodriguez, Ola Aina and Marko Pjaca in their foreign contingent. They will hope for a better season this time around, but have already lost the opening two games of their 2021-22 Serie A campaign.
Finally, newly promoted Venezia also have 19 foreign players in their squad, with ten of them arriving this season to help the club stay up in the Serie A. Venezia will look to make a mark in their first Serie A campaign in 19 years. But they have not had the best of starts to the new season, losing their opening two games.
#3 AS Roma, Inter Milan - 21
Last season's Serie A champions Inter Milan, along with AS Roma, take third position on this list, with 21 foreign players in their ranks.
Inter had a turbulent transfer window this summer, with Antonio Conte departing the club after winning Serie A, owing to the club's financial woes. As such key players like Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi were also sold by the club to better balance their books.
The Nerazzurri have brought the likes of Joaquin Correa, Denzel Dumfries, Edin Dzeko and Hakan Calhanoglu this summer, with Simone Inzaghi replacing Conte at the helm. The club also boasts the likes of Stefan de Vrij, Arturo Vidal, Ivan Perisic and Lautaro Martinez, who played key roles in Inter's Serie A win last season.
It will be interesting to see whether Inter can retain the Serie A title after the departure of so many key players. They have started the new season well, though, registering comfortable wins against Genoa and Hellas Verona.
Meanwhile, AS Roma have also started their campaign brightly under Jose Mourinho. They have won their opening two games comfortably, and are looking like one of the teams that could challenge for the Serie A title.
Already having the likes of Chris Smalling, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Javier Pastore in their foreign contingent, they have also added Tammy Abraham and Ru Patricio, players with significant experience in the English top-flight.
With a talented squad at his disposal, Mourinho will be out there with a point to prove; the job at Roma provides the perfect opportunity for the Portuguese.
#2 Udinese Calcio - 23
The second spot in the list of Serie A teams with the most foreign players goes to Udinese Calcio, who have 23 foreign players in their ranks. Udinese's entire squad consists of 28 players, meaning the Serie A club have only five Italian players in their ranks.
Udinese sold their top scorer of last season, Rodrigo De Paul, to Atletico Madrid, but boast several other key players in the squad. Former Barcelona player Gerard Deulofeu has been at the club since last season. Fernando Llorente has also been plying his trade at Udinese since joining the club on a free transfer in January. Udinese have also brought in Nigerian striker Issac Success to bolster their attack.
The Serie A club have started the new season brightly by drawing their first game against Juventus and earning a comfortable win against Venezia.
#1 SS Lazio - 30
Rome-based SS Lazio earn the top spot in the list of Serie A clubs with the most foreign players, boasting a staggering 30 non-Italian players in their squad.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is arguably the most important foreign player in the squad, with the midfielder being a key part of the team along with Ciro Immobile in recent years.
They also have former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina in their ranks, while they have bought in the likes of Felipe Anderson and Spanish winger Pedro Rodriguez this summer to bolster the attack. Lazio also have Brazilian Lucas Leiva operating in midfield, while Ecuadorian striker Felipe Caicedo has been at the club since 2017.
Lazio finished sixth last season,, but their manager Simone Inzaghi left the club to join Inter. As such Maurizio Sarri has been brought in at the helm. The Italian has started the new season brilliantly, winning the opening two games to take Lazio atop the Serie A table.
