The McTominay and Gilmour Napoli revolution up close as Che Adams reveals 'talks' before Scotland teammate made move
Che Adams believes the latest upsurge in Steve Clarke’s international stars making the switch to Serie A can only be good 'Forza Scotland'.
The striker made the summer move to Italy's top-flight, where he has helped fire Torino to the top of the table. Right behind them in second place is Napoli, who have recently recruited his Scotland teammates Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour. Lewis Ferguson, who is coming back from serious injury, has also been a revelation at Bologna over the last three seasons. Scotland new boy Josh Doig has also swapped Hellas Verona for Sassuolo, who are now looking to get back up to Serie A at the first time of asking.
Adams admitted: “All the other top national teams have a selection of players from the top leagues. It will be a bonus for Scotland to have a good number of players playing in Italy. You can also see Scott and Billy have taken the decision to come out here as well.
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“Personally, I feel a move like this just helps you to grow as a person and a player. The more experience you get then the better person and player you will become.”
Adams could have been preparing for another crack at the English Premier League, along with McTominay and Gilmour, but instead they have decided to try something different. Adams had pretty much done it all in England, rising from its non leagues to playing in the Premier League.
“I spoke to Billy before his move happened,” Adams confirmed. “He was buzzing to get it done. I went to Naples in the summer. It is an amazing city and club. It is a massive, massive club.
“Both of them, under Antonio Conte, I believe it will be a good season for them. They are both looking forward to it. I think we were all very similar and we all wanted to try something different and that is why we are all now in Serie A.”
The frontman had lucrative and exciting options across the UK, Europe and in the eiddle east. He went to national coach Clarke for advice over the summer. He confirmed: “I spoke to Steve about my future before the Euros.
“I told him my options and at that point I wasn’t sure what to do. “He joked: 'I would rather you stay in this country so I can come and watch you!' I ended up going the wrong way.
“In all seriousness, he just said he wanted to see me stay fit, scoring goals and playing my part for the club. That is the most important thing for him and Scotland.
“He wants all the boys buzzing and going into the international games on top of their form. I think he is happy with the way things have worked out for myself.”
Adams also went to the Scotland squad’s own Serie A resident, Ferguson, for a bit of insight into what he could expect in his new surroundings. The midfielder had been linked with big-money moves of his own to Juventus and Napoli before he suffered the cruel injury that denied him a place at Euro 2024.
“I spoke to Fergie a couple of times about Italian football,” he added. “He told me how good it was and how amazing it is in terms of lifestyle and football. Lewis had done really well out there. If you do well then it will open doors and it will bring other opportunities because other teams might want to sign you.”
Aaron Hickey has been a good example of that. He moved from Hearts to Bologna and is now in the English Premier League with Brentford. Adams decided to gamble and went to Euro 2024 as a free agent. His contract had expired at Southampton and he travelled to Germany to showcase his talents.
He was one of several Scotland players who were out-of-contract over the summer. The former Birmingham forward admitted he was taking a risk but he was more interested in helping Scotland make their mark in the finals. It didn’t go to plan for Clarke and his men but Adams admitted it wasn’t through a lack of effort or commitment.
The new Il Toro hero said: “The worst case scenario was that you get injured but, for me, I was never thinking about that. I wanted to do everything I could for Scotland. I didn’t back out of a tackle and I gave everything. “I looked at things the other way.
“I knew if I could do well out there then it would be a positive. There were actually a fair few of us in the Scotland squad who were in the same position at that time.”
Torino had made their push before the Euros and were even more determined after it. Adams was intrigued. He was at an age where he is still to hit his peak and knew he might have regretted it if he hadn’t taken up Torino’s offer.
“The interest had been there for a few months,” Adams explained. “I thought I would wait and relax a bit after the Euros.
“I then came a time and I looked at all my options and I thought: ‘Let’s do this!’. It wasn’t an easy decision to make because I have quite a young family.
“Football is so short now and I just want to make sure that when the time comes to finish my career I have no regrets. I want to make sure I have had the maximum out of my career.”