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Alessandro Del Piero believes the imminent returns of Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba to Serie A will be a “great move” for Italian football.
Juventus are poised to re-sign Pogba following his departure from Manchester United, while Inter are pushing to bring Lukaku back from Chelsea following a disappointing year in the Premier League.
Both players will represent marquee additions for the two Serie A title hopefuls as they seek to knock Milan off their perch next season, while also boosting them in the hunt for glory in the Champions League.
Juventus legend Del Piero believes the deals have further significance, however, as he feels they can help to push Italian football to compete with the other top leagues in Europe following a number of years off the pace.
“Now the Premier League is the best football you can see in terms of number of teams that can perform at a high level and what happened in the Champions League, in the Europa League how they performed is the answer,” he told ESPN.
“It’s a different kind of sport in some moments. It seems in the Premier League you run more, you have more physicality, you are more spectacular.
“It’s not exactly like this because in Italy we have this kind of thing but Italy is struggling now: the national team and also in the club teams.
“So last season showed a little bit more. Roma’s win [in the Europa Conference League] is a good hope for the future in the Europa competitions.
“So Lukaku for Inter and Pogba for Juve could be a great move also for Italian football to become again stronger and have a voice in the Champions League especially.”
Since Inter won the Champions League under Jose Mourinho in 2009-10, Juventus are the only Italian side to have reached the final – losing to Barcelona in 2014-15 and then to Real Madrid two years later.
