It was interesting to see the wave of players moving from the Premier League to Serie A in the summer.
Aaron Ramsey left Arsenal for Juventus on a free transfer and then Manchester United sent four players to Italy.
Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian are all currently playing in Italy’s top flight, leaving the doldrums of Old Trafford for a new experience.
Lukaku and Sanchez both joined Inter Milan, Darmian signed for Parma and Smalling is playing for AS Roma.
Both Sanchez and Smalling’s moves were season-long loans, although Man United will probably only want one of them back.
How are they all getting on?
The five players have had varying degrees of success through the first few months of the 2019/20 season.
The Daily Mail’s Alvise Cagnazzo, a football journalist in Italy, has run the rule of the quintet, giving each a score out of 10.
Sanchez, look away now.
Aaron Ramsey - 3/10
Ramsey has shown his talent when he’s played, but that hasn’t been often.
Injuries have limited the Welshman to eight appearances and he is yet to play an entire 90 minutes for Juventus.
If he can maintain his fitness then Ramsey promises to be a key player for Mauricio Sarri.
“Constantly fighting and running, he can be an extraordinary weapon in Sarri's preferred 4-3-1-2 formation,” Cagnazzo writes.
“Playing behind two strikers, Ramsey is an increasing presence in attack.”
Ramsey poached a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo in the week and he’ll hope that it’s the start of a good run of form.
Romelu Lukaku - 9/10
Lukaku has scored nine goals in 11 matches for Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan and is on a great run in front of goal.
The Belgian scored a crucial brace against Bologna to earn Inter all three points at the weekend, showing Man United what they’re missing.
“Lukaku scored two goals but he also worked for the team, it is important,” Conte said after the Bologna win.
Alexis Sanchez - 0/10
Sanchez’s full Inter debut was wild. He scored twice and was then sent off.
But any hope of the Chilean making a revival were dashed when he suffered an ankle injury while on international duty.
He’s out until the New Year and there are no assurances that Inter will make his loan deal a permanent one.
Conte wants Sanchez to “forget the negative years in England”, but things aren’t improving for the former Arsenal player in Italy.
Chris Smalling - 7/10
Not many thought Smalling would be as impressive as he has been for Roma.
He’s Roma’s defensive leader, according to Cagnazzo.
“For manager Paulo Fonseca, the England international is the new totem of their defence. So far in Serie A, he is yet to be beaten by any striker,” the journalist writes.
“Smalling is the head of the defence for Fonseca and the beacon of every offensive action from there.”
Where was this Smalling at Man United?!
Smalling is making Roma supporters forget about Kostas Manolas and is quickly becoming a fan-favourite at the Stadio Olimpico.
If he continues this way, the Red Devils will surely bring him back at the end of the campaign.
Matteo Darmian - 4/10
Darmian has had his struggles at Parma. He “showed a lot of effort but little quality” in the recent 1-1 draw against Fiorentina, and Cagnazzo notes that he needs to improve attacking-wise if he’s going to help the club fight relegation.
The 29-year-old is proving to be a hard-worker but little more for Roberto D’Aversa’s team.