Josh Doig admits he has settled into Italian life so easily that he couldn’t wait to get back to Verona after a trip home to Edinburgh. The full-back is with Scot Gemmill’s Scotland Under-21 side in Belfast for the friendly against Northern Ireland and the 20-year-old is now one of the most senior members of a new-look squad.
Former Hibs favourite Doig has made quite an impression with Serie A side Verona after becoming the latest Scot to move to Italy, following his £3million move in July. Liam Henderson, Aaron Hickey and Lewis Ferguson have all come across, with Hickey returning to the UK in the summer with a £14m move to Brentford.
Doig has already played four times under boss Gabriele Cioffi, who once managed in England with Crawley Town, and scored his first goal for the club with a winner against Sampdoria this month in front of his proud dad. It would be understandable if Doig was missing aspects of Scottish life having moved to Italy at such a young age but he has made it clear he’s relishing his change of lifestyle.
Doig said: “It’s amazing there. It’s a different culture. It’s all new, the city, the layout, the people – everything is new but I’m embracing it as much as I can. I’ve only been there for two or months but I already missed the city, when I came home the other day. I was gutted to be away, as good as it was to be home.
“The style of football is not massively different. You have a lot more of the ball at your feet and you need to be comfortable on the ball. It’s good for me, it’s maturing me as a player. I’m on the ball a lot more and I’ve enjoyed it. My girlfriend Molly has moved over. She’s got into university there so it’s perfect. She’s studying fashion at a fashion school. The club set it up for her.
“She’s more clued up than me. She has advanced Highers and is properly brainy. My mum and dad are over every month or so and they love the city as much as I do. We do two (Italian) lessons a week on the Zoom with a guy and she’s picking it up. You pick up certain things and the manager speaks perfect English. He managed in England before so it’s perfect and anything tactical he will switch to English for me.
“It was amazing to score my first goal for Verona against Sampdoria in front of my dad. I definitely wasn’t expecting it. I was nervous about the game and wanted to play football and not make mistakes, so to score the winning goal was unbelievable. It was my dad’s birthday too! It was hilarious. He said I’d better score on his birthday and I’d not scored in ages. He was chuffed and called it his goal.”
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