Jamie Vardy may have thought he was signing up for sun and spaghetti as he arrived in Italy to a mob of supporters on Sunday night.
What the former England forward might not have bargained for was playing alongside the great-grandson of one of Europe’s most notorious fascist dictators.
Vardy, 38, has signed for Serie A newboys Cremonese and will line up alongside young full-back Romano Mussolini.
The 22-year-old was drafted in on loan from Lazio earlier this summer. His full name is Romano Benito Floriani Mussolini, and though he actually insists on taking the surname Mussolini, not Floriani, he says he has no interest in politics.
That hasn’t stopped the association filtering into football. When he scored his first professional goal last December, fans responded by performing the Roman salute, which was frequently adopted by his great-grandfather.
He put his finger to his lips while celebrating but fans chanted his name and performed the salute nevertheless.
Jamie Vardy will play alongside Benito Mussolin’s great-grandson (not pictured) at Cremonese
The 38-year-old has joined the newly promoted Serie A side in the violin capital of the world
Mussolini’s great-grandson Romano signed on loan from Lazio earlier this summer
In all seriousness, Vardy has not enlisted for a fun continental jaunt to wind down his career. The Leicester legend has likely joined a fierce relegation battle with a side who have been relegated six times out of the eight seasons they have spent in Serie A.
But Cremonese have made a decent fist of the transfer window, won their first two games against AC Milan and Sassuolo, and hired the Harry Houdini of Italian football: manager Davide Nicola, who has finished 17th in Serie A five times with five different clubs.
Despite his age, Vardy has nothing to prove – last season he still managed to bang in 10 goals for Leicester, though they were relegated.
He has penned a one-year contract with the option of a further year with Cremonese, who are based in Lombardy, the same region as Juventus and Torino.
Arriving at Milan’s Linate Airport on Sunday night, he was greeted by passionate fans who sang ‘take us to Europe’.
He will spend his new life in Italy with his wife Rebekah Vardy after turning down the chance to join Feyenoord – despite gaffer Robin van Persie personally calling him to try and attract him.
Perhaps they will indulge in some musical delights. Their new city, Cremona, is known as the violin capital of the world.
Vardy leaves behind a great legacy in England, having won the 2015-16 Premier League title with Leicester and scored 200 goals in 500 appearances for the Foxes.
All in all for club and country, spanning all the way from his non-league days, Vardy has 324 career goals.
In a short club media video where he pretended to ink his signature on a contract, he said: ‘Forza Cremo!’
It’s a start in his new language, and he will take inspiration from the successes of fellow Brits Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour at Napoli, who have been taught Italian by none other than Antonio Conte and won Serie A last season.
