Josh Doig suffers Serie A devastation as Celtic and Rangers put on transfer alert

The former prodigy of Hibs made a bad move to Sassuolo in January when his new team was relegated.

Josh Doig, a former Hibs player, was devastated to learn that Sassuolo had been demoted from Serie A yesterday night.

The left-back for Scotland Under-21 left Hellas Verona in January

after completing a £5 million transfer to their rivals in Italy.

However, the 22-year-old’s tenure with his new team has rapidly soured

after they lost to Cagliari 2-0 at home on Sunday, ending their 11-year run in the top division.

Sassuolo, who were promoted to Serie A for the first time in team history in 2013,

had an incredibly bad season. In February, as the team found itself in a survival struggle,

manager Alessio Dionisi was fired. Despite being brought in to stabilize the ship,

Davide Ballardini was unable to lead them to safety.

And Doig’s campaign came to a terrible end as a result,

and he may now regret the January window. After spending £3 million to move from Easter Road,

the gifted young player had made a name for himself as one of Serie A’s

best full-backs by the summer of 2022. In his first season with Verona,

he received great praise, and his remarkable play even led to links with Juventus,

one of the biggest teams in the world. Doig’s injury ended the previous season early,

but his teammates survived a relegation play-off against Spezia to keep Verona in the top division for an additional year.

The former AC Milan and Rangers great tried to entice the uncapped Scot to Marseille,

and Rino Gattuso believed he had won the battle for his signature.

However, Sassuolo called off the agreement despite hammering out

personal conditions with the French behemoths after receiving a larger offer from rival Italian team Sassuolo.

Gattuso was shocked by the change of events, but following

a challenging campaign at the Stade Velodrome, he quickly found himself unemployed a few weeks later.

As a result, ambitious Doig had to make a difficult choice between

staying in Verona and accepting a new challenge in Emilia-Romagna.

Doig took a chance by transferring to the Neroverdi,

garnering Hibs a handsome six-figure windfall because of a sell-on clause,

even if Sassuolo remained in the lower half of the table. Regretfully,

the gamble did not pay off as the team, who often plays toward the top of the division,

was relegated with one game remaining due to their inability to turn around their dismal run of play.

Due to their current situation, Sassuolo may have to sell some of its most valuable players,

such as injured sensation Domenico Berardi, in order to get ready for life in Serie B.

Furthermore, Doig is sure to have plenty of admirers from throughout Europe,

which might allow him to move on from the Mapei Stadium after a trying six months.

Due to Doig’s circumstances, Celtic and Rangers—two Glasgow

clubs looking to add a left-back this summer—may also be placed on transfer watch lists.

Although the young player was mentioned as a target for Ibrox coach Philippe Clement in January, no formal offer was ever made.