Matteo Salvini has attempted to offer an explanation for the cancelling of the Growth Decree tax relief scheme, describing it as ‘a choice of fairness and common sense’.
During a recent feature we highlighted how the Growth Decree functions exactly in terms of numbers while presenting some of the perceived pros and cons, plus the impact that its removal could have on future operations for Milan such as renewals.
Last night, ANSA among other sources reported that the Decree – which was initially believed to be set for a slight extension to February – will be completely scrapped. This decision was confirmed after a ‘heated debate’ among government ministers.
Salvini is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022, and he is famously a quite outspoken Milan fan.
He published a tweet in which he outlined the reasoning behind the abolition of the Growth Decree, framing it as a pro-Italian policy rather than one aimed at making things more difficult for clubs.
“The government’s objective is to help Italian football also and above all by valorising the nurseries. For this reason, the League decided to stop the rule that allows foreign players to pay less taxes.
I am convinced that it is a choice of fairness and common sense,” he said.
“The Growth Decree allowed clubs to purchase athletes from abroad at a discount: extraordinary help, which lasted for years, which should have been an opportunity to relaunch our championships. Making them more competitive and attractive.
“This was not the case, and the reaction of the clubs surprises me: it seems that the problem in our Serie A is the lack of a sort of citizen’s income for players bought across the border.
“I put my face to it, as always. If other colleagues have different ideas, I invite them to discuss them publicly too. The good of Italian sport comes above all from football: I am open to any debate and proposal.”
Sky pointed out today that Milan are the Italian club who benefit the most from the Decree and that this season’s wage bill would suffer an increase of €22.45m overall if it were scrapped, as a working example (it would only affect future contracts).
We have enough foreign players, time to concentrate on our homegrown talents and Italians, we need to regain a balance
Yeah Italian talent is so great in numbers that we have to buy foreigners for the youth …
I hope we continue to largely ignore the domestic market, Serie A players are completely overpriced at the moment and there is no gain for shopping in Serie A.
Focus on developing homegrown talent in-house.
Buying overpriced mediocre Italians from other clubs is not the way to go.
That said, when Camarda needs to sign his first contract with Milan, will he go for a better contract from another club, since he now has the advantage of being both Talented and Italian now?
You mean players like De Sciglio, Locatelli and Donnarumma who chose to leave.
No players like Scalvini, and others like Raspadori-Scamacca-Cambiasso-Frattesi whose we didn’t even get in touch with them just to focus on abroad players as Cheek-Chukuweze-Musah-Reinjders, allowing us to benefit from Growth Decree whilst kicked out of the C1, losing 5-1 to Intermilan, ending up in draw match while we had avtangae against Napoli-Lecce -Slaernitana
In few years we shouldn’t be surprised if Italy goes back to limiting how many non Italians can play.
I generally have very little sympathy for what Salvini usually has to say but if the Italians want a great international team then there really is no way around that teams plays their own domestic players which in the end will benefit the league and strengthen the growth of talents.
I’m not Italian myself and even though i recognize that AC Milan has benefitted from the growth decree in recent years I’m still of the view that players brought in from abroad to the league or for matter other leagues should either have a higher bar in potential or current quality and bringing in players of equal talent of the locals and on top of that giving them tax benefits isn’t a fair model either.
I am all for having more domestic players in the rooster. Milan always had healthy balance of domestic and foreign talent.
But I see a problem where agents will start selling domestic talent abroad as well. Price of Italian talent won’t go down, this could even increase their already hyped pricetags beacuse of possible bidding wars. And secondly PL clubs for example will be able to offer better economic conditions because of lower taxation. Hope I’m wrong.
Same here as im pretty old school on that matter but due to our previous bad finances i could accept having a lot of foreigners in our team for the time being.
But the growth decree was only for foreign players arriving from 2 years abroad from what i understand so its not like AC Milan or other Italian clubs domestic players got any tax reductions so I dont see that as an issue here, EPL clubs will always be an issue regardless, nothing new there but I dont see that worsening by the abandonment of the growth decree. I might obviously be wrong but don’t see it.
Some think that this will force teams to buy more Italians.
But if you just check Fab Romano feed Juventus is trying to sign Kalvin Phillips from Man City and some Swiss player born in ’06.
Inter is trying to sign a Canadian winger from Brugge plus Taremi from Porto.
We already know about Milan.
They will still go for the more talented player from outside instead for below average homegrown, you just won’t be able to bring the big names on bigger salaries which will just lower the quality of the league.
Not necessarily buying a lot of expensive Italians but maybe putting a bigger bet more on homegrown talents and then make fewer investments on foreigners except for those who can straight away lift the teams and for that matter those who has an extraordinary talent at a young age.
Inter doesn’t have the same wage structure as us so what they do is their case not ours.
The fact that we seemingly also have plans for a next gen team seems to substantiate that claim to me.
One of the things people tend to forget, a lot of players has been brought into the league on the notion that they are cheaper due to the tax reductions, whos not to say that the Italian talents will have a greater chance to flourish instead of the league clubs developing other nations talents of equal quality ?
With this gone, I see RedBrid still buying abroad. Only now it’ll be even cheaper “talent” or washed up rejects.
Then why not give the discount on Italian players they offered for foreigners instead and charge a surtax on purchasing foreign players. I bet that will get our Youth Academies pumping more Italians out and teams playing them
Are all of the stupidest people in the world, now in power in every country at the same time?
England have tried this (for footballers) and it just doesn’t work. It does make English players more expensive for English teams to buy? But has it made the National team a European winner? No. No, it has not. And it will not, because at the end of the day, PROMOTING PLAYER BECAUSE THEY ARE LOCAL AND HAVE ITALIAN BLOOD IN THEIR VEINS WILL NOT MAKE THEM BETTER FOOTBALLERS THAN NON ITALIANS.
I always laugh when people think they can money their way to higher end result over broad swaths of people.
Has it worked with public school in many nations? No.
Has it worked in health outcomes in rich nations? No.
The best single thing that can be done in any location on this planet, to improve the outcomes of science, education, football, economics, is to do this one thing.
Don’t allow the bias of familial status, name recognition, financial status, or the place where a kid comes from…..to help him or her to be “picked” as one of the smartest, or best talents, from their age pool.
Simply put, allow the poorest people access, stability, time, and opportunity to compete with the “establishment pupils” and actually choose the best ones to enter the best programs.
But this almost never happens. Get real about it. Most of the time, the “special” kids who have an important personal or financial connection get to go to Harvard, or get to sign for Barcelona youth, and especially, they get chosen for professional high paying careers over the poorer applicants who have no connections.
Societies cannot solve problems without problem solvers. Wealthy kids have few problems to solve anyway, and will wither in the battle to solve them. But they are the ones who run the entire world.