It’s an Italian job for another Scottish starlet
Harvey St Clair has become the latest Scottish starlet to embark on an Italian adventure after quitting Chelsea to join Serie B outfit Venezia.
The 19-year-old was offered a new deal by the Premier League giants, but, with limited first-team options on the horizon, decided to switch to Venice.
Watford and Zenit St Petersburg were understood. to be among the winger’s admirers, however he has penned a three-year deal at the Arancioneroverdi, with the option for a further season.
Venezia narrowly missed out on promotion to Serie A last term, losing in a play-off against Palermo. They were dealt a further blow when manager Filippo Inzaghi departed last week to take the reins at Bologna.
“I first trained with Chelsea when I was six, so I’ve been associated with the club for a long time and they’ve done so much to help me,” said St Clair. “That made this a really difficult decision and one I didn’t take lightly.
“I just feel it’s the right decision for me at this point. I want to be playing regular first-team football and, with the depth of talent Chelsea have, I just didn’t see that happening for me in the short term.”
St Clair was a standout for Chelsea’s Under-23 side last term, scoring three goals and providing three assists in 17 games.
He also shone for Scotland Under-21s and impressed during the Toulon Tournament as Scot Gemmill’s side secured a fourth-placed finish in France.
“It’s something I did think about at Toulon, because I was mixing with a lot of boys who are already playing regular first-team football,” continued St Clair.
“I had some really good chats with SFA performance director Malky Mackay and Scot Gemmill about my situation.
“I appreciated their advice. I talked them through the options that were open to me and they gave me their thoughts. I think it’s good to sound out two experienced football people like that – especially when I want to keep progressing within the Scotland set-up.
“They were positive about the idea of me stepping out of a comfort zone and trying a new environment.”
St Clair joins former Celtic and Hibernian favourite Liam Henderson in the second tier of Italian football and will hope to have a similarly impressive impact as the Bari playmaker, whose since arriving in January has reportedly caught the eye of Fiorentina.