SCOTS have been making waves in Italy for several years now.
And the man who arguably started the trend has just won himself a move to one of Serie A’s most historic clubs.
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Liam Henderson made the bold decision to leave Scottish football for good in 2018 when he joined Bari, then in Serie B.
He had been on the books at Celtic and became a cult hero at Hibs during a loan spell there in the 2015-16 season.
The midfielder spent six months at Bari before making the switch to Hellas Verona, helping them win promotion to the top flight.
A loan stint at Empoli came next and the following season he was a regular at Lecce, again in Serie B.
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It wasn’t until a permanent move to Empoli in 2021 that he became a regular in the Italian top flight, playing 63 league games in two seasons.
He dropped back down to the second tier for a year with Palermo in 2023-24 but last year he was back in the Empoli side on a regular basis once again.
Henderson reached a personal milestone by becoming the first Scot to play in 100 Serie A matches for a single club, but Empoli suffered relegation on the final day of the campaign.
With his contract expiring, Henderson knew he would be on the move and today he was unveiled as Sampdoria’s newest player.
He becomes just the second Scot to play for the Genoa-based side, after Graeme Souness.
Sampdoria won the Scudetto in 1991 and have lifted the Coppa Italia four times in their histry: 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1994.
They also won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1990 and reached the European Cup final in 1992, losing out to Barcelona.
Some of the most famous players in their history include Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli and Fabio Quagliarella, as well as Souness.
Henderson has signed a two-year deal with the club as they push to return to the top flight.
The club posted: “Benvenuto in blucerchiato Liam,” which translates to “Welcome to blucerchiato Liam,” blucerchiato being one of the club’s nicknames.
Henderson’s new manager will be none other than former Celtic, Hamilton and St Mirren midfielder Massimo Donati.
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