First John Stones, then Djed Spence and now Curtis Jones! The English invasion at Inter proves Italy is still an attractive destination for Premier League players

Spence, of course, already has experience of playing in Italy, having spent six months on loan to Genoa during the second half of the 2023-24 season, and was only too happy to return. “You learn so much when you play abroad,” the versatile full-back said. “I can say I became a man when I was abroad and I’m grateful for the experience.”

Interestingly, Spence didn’t feel as if moving to Italy would in any way hinder his international ambitions. At times during Gareth Southgate’s England tenure, Tomori definitely suffered from plying his trade in Serie A, and there’s no getting away from the fact that the league’s representatives results in Europe have been, underwhelming at best, in recent seasons.

However, Inter have been something of an outlier, reaching two Champions League finals in three seasons between 2023 and 2025. Even last season, despite suffering a shock play-off round loss to Bodo-Glimt, they still managed to impress Jones.

“I played against them for Liverpool and they’re a team that loves having the ball,” the midfielder told the club’s official website. “There are players here who can score lots of goals, create assists and make plenty of chances. You can feel how united this squad is. Inter can compete with the very best teams in the world. You can also feel the hunger that’s here, and, as I’ve already said, the support from the fans is unbelievable. The Inter supporters really are the 12th man.

“The biggest thing was the feeling I had last season when I played against Inter in the Champions League and experienced the passion their fans have for the team. Of course, you can also talk about the trophies, the Club’s history and all the great players who have worn this shirt. But the fans were the decisive factor. I was out on the San Siro pitch and I could hear them singing and supporting the players throughout.”

That special San Siro atmosphere is certainly one of the things Tomori enjoys most about playing for Inter’s city rivals.

“Having these ultra passionate fans who just sing for 90 minutes. Not even 90 minutes. They’re there before we’re out warming up,” Tomori enthused. “They’re there after the game. Even that in itself is another nuanced thing that makes it so special. I feel like, even my friends, I used to tell them about it, but they never really understood what I was saying until they actually came to the stadium.”

Tomori also told his former Chelsea team-mate Ruben Loftus-Cheek about the amazing atmosphere at the Giuseppe Meazza before the midfielder’s own move to Milan, and when Tammy Abraham, another Cobham academy graduate, was mulling over an offer from Roma, he got in touch to say, “Bro, this is a really good league!”

It’s clearly not what it was in its heyday in the nineties and noughties, when all of the world’s best players flocked to Italy, but Richards has a point when he says that “Serie A is very, very underrated”. It’s also easy to understand why someone like Jones would be drawn to the peninsula – particularly after seeing what a move to Naples did for Scott McTominay’s career.