The mountain retreat - upholding an Italian tradition
The wheels on Josh Doig's plane had barely kissed Italian tarmac before he was whisked off to the Alps for a lung-pumping, leg-burning pre-season training camp with his new team-mates.
"They said to me if you sign, you can go home, pack a bag, come back," laughs the Scotsman, reflecting on his arrival at Hellas Verona in July 2022. "I was expecting to be drip fed into it.
"But literally I signed, then two hours [drive] straight up to the mountains, not speaking the language - it was terrifying, but after a few days I loved it."
Clubs have long swapped hot and humid summers for fresh mountain air and picturesque surroundings in the north of the country, spending weeks preparing for the new season at high-altitude camps.
"You have almost six weeks off with your family and then 17 days away," adds left-back Doig, now with Sassuolo in Serie A and speaking from his fourth such retreat, this one in the quiet Alpine village of Ronzone.
