Most of the great Italians in recent times, the likes of Del Piero, Maldini, Nesta and Totti, have stayed in Serie A and never played in England. But some have jumped shores and flourished in the Premiership: Zola, Di Matteo, Di Canio and Ravanelli are some of the best Italian imports. But I’m going to focus on the bad Italians: players that had excellent careers in Italy but couldn’t make the transition to Premier League greatness. Here are my top XI Italian flops in Premiership history.

GK: Massimo Taibi

(Manchester United, 1999-2000)

After a successful career in Italy with AC Milan and Venezia, Taibi joined United for £4.4 million, competing with Mark Bosnich and Raimond van der Gouw for the number 1 spot. But Taibi only played 4 games for United, which included a 5-0 thrashing by Chelsea and that horrific mistake where he let a Matt Le Tissier shot slip through his legs.

DF: Paolo Tramezzani

(Tottenham, 1998-2000)

The highly sought after full-back was signed by Christian Gross from Piacenza in 1998. Only played in 7 games for Spurs in his two years at White Hart Lane, mainly due to injury problems and the fact that he just wasn’t very good.

DF: Andrea Dossena

(Liverpool, 2008-2010)

Signed for £7 million in 2008 to replace the departed John Arne Riise. But the former Udinese defender struggled to adjust to the pace of the Premiership and was poor in his time at Anfield. Shipped off to Napoli in January.

DF: Marco Materazzi

(Everton, 1998-1999)

Before winning the World Cup with Italy and excelling with Inter Milan, Materazzi had a less than successful season with Everton. He was sent off four times in 27 games for Everton, and Materazzi still hasn’t learned to control his temper and ability to wind people up, after provoking Zinedine Zidane enough to get him sent off in the 2006 World Cup final.

DF: Lorenzo Amoruso

(Blackburn, 2003-2006)

After a successful spell with Rangers, Amoruso signed for Blackburn in 2003. But constant injuries and poor form meant that the Italian defender was a failure at Ewood Park, only playing in 18 games in three years with the club.

MF: Nicola Berti

(Tottenham, 1998-1999)

A tough tackling midfielder who combined excellent passing with great stamina, and was a big success for Inter Milan in the 1990’s. Moved to Spurs for a year in 1998, and couldn’t repeat the success he had in Italy, scoring 3 goals in 21 games for Tottenham.

MF: Dino Baggio

(Blackburn, 2003)

Like Berti, Baggio was extremely successful in Italy, playing for all the big clubs, such as Inter Milan, Parma, Juventus and Lazio. A defensive midfielder, Baggio was known for his tough tackling nature and good passing skills, but couldn’t repeat that form in England, only playing in 9 games for Blackburn, scoring one goal.

MF: Gabriele Ambrosetti

(Chelsea, 1999-2003)

A Gianluca Vialli signing, Ambrosetti was dubbed as the “Italian Ryan Giggs” when he signed for Chelsea. He failed to live up to that mantle and the price tag and only made a handful appearances for Chelsea in four years at the club.

ST: Rolando Bianchi

(Man City, 2007-2008)

Signed by Sven Goran Eriksson for £8.8 million in 2007, after Bianchi impressed for Reggina, scoring 18 goals for the club in the 2006-07 season. Bianchi scored on his debut, but never really got the chance to impress at City and struggled to settle in England. Went out on loan to Lazio after four months at City and now at Torino.

ST: Corrado Grabbi

(Blackburn, 2001-2004)

Probably the worst Italian export in Premiership history, Grabbi was signed from Ternana for £7.25 million in 2001. Injuries and personal problems hindered the strikers impact at Blackburn, and Grabbi scored just once in 14 league games.

ST: Massimo Maccarone

(Middlesborough, 2002-2006)

Just edges out Crystal Palace flop Michele Padovano for the last spot on this list, purely because of the transfer fee involved. Maccarone cost £8.1 million when he joined Boro from Empoli, but failed to justify his hefty price tag and was never a regular in the side. Loaned out to Parma and Siena before moving back to Italy in 2006.

Any glaring omissions?

Follow Tom Jinks on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomjinks