LIAM Henderson joined an exclusive band of Scottish footballers this week when he agreed to leave Celtic for Bari.

The 21-year-old became only the fourth Scot to move to Italy since the war, following in the footsteps of Denis Law, Joe Jordan and Graeme Souness.

Here, we look back at how the three Scotland greats fared during their time on the peninsula.

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DENIS LAW

Torino (1961-62)

Arguably the greatest Scottish footballer of all time, Law’s time at Torino is often overlooked due to the unrivalled success he later enjoyed at Manchester United.

The 21-year-old Aberdonian landed in Turin in 1961, arriving from Man City for £110,000, a record fee for a British player at the time.

He signed along with Hibernian’s Joe Baker after Toro had achieved a 12th-place finish in Serie A the season before, but found adapting to a new culture and style of football fraught with difficulties.

Firstly, Inter attempted to stop the move by claiming that Law had signed a pre-contract with them, eventually dropping their complaint before the season began.

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The striker then struggled to enjoy operating in the ultra-defensive catenaccio system popular at the time and failed to earn as much as he had hoped thanks to Torino’s performance-related payments that saw fees and bonuses handed out in an envelope at full-time, the amount depending on the result.

In February, Law was injured in a car crash when Baker drove the wrong way around a roundabout and by April he had already requested a transfer.

The striker’s relationship with manager Beniamino Santos was strained and reached boiling point when Law discovered Santos had bizarrely told the referee to send him off during a match against Napoli because he was angry at the Scot for taking a throw-in against his instructions.

Law rejected a move to Juventus at the end of the season, flying home to Aberdeen before eventually signing for United in July 1962 for another record fee of £115,000.

Despite his off-field difficulties and complaining of rough treatment from Serie A defenders, Law still finished as the club’s top scorer with 10 goals and was voted as the best foreign player in the league at the end of the campaign.

He remained highly-rated by the Italian press, who nicknamed him ‘Valentino’ in tribute to the star of the all-conquering ‘Grande Torino’ side of the 1940s, Valentino Mazzola.

JOE JORDAN

AC Milan (1981-83) Hellas Verona (1983-84)

Jordan pitched up at Milan in 1981, joining from Manchester United for his first experience of playing overseas.

The San Siro club had just returned to Serie A after being relegated the season before as punishment for their role in the ‘Totonero’ match-fixing scandal that rocked Italian football.

It was a difficult period for the club and Jordan scored just two league goals in 22 matches as a poor run of results saw his new side relegated only a year after returning to the top flight.

His strike in the dramatic 3-2 final day victory away to Cesena gave the Rossoneri hope of avoiding the drop, but it was too little too late as Milan finished one point behind Genoa in the final relegation spot.

Jordan’s performances picked up during his second season as he finished as the club’s top scorer in all competitions with 14 goals, including 10 league strikes.

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That form helped the Diavolo pip Lazio to the Serie B title and bounce back at the first time of asking and although he would not stay to experience Serie A football at San Siro for a second time, Jordan was honoured by being named one of the 110 most important players in the club’s history on their 110th anniversary in 2009.

For the 83/84 season, Jordan moved to a Verona side fresh off an impressive fourth-place Serie A. The Scot was brought in for his strength and physicality, but he again struggled for form in the top-flight and ended the season out of favour and with just two goals to his name in all competitions.

The Scotland striker’s time in Italy ended as Verona finished in sixth place. He headed back to the UK to join Southampton, consequently missing out on one of the biggest shocks in Italian football history as Hellas went on to clinch the title the following season.

GRAEME SOUNESS

Sampdoria (1984-86)

Sampdoria President Paolo Mantovani shocked the football world in the summer of 1984 by securing the signature of Liverpool midfielder Souness, who had just clinched the fifth league title and third European Cup of his Anfield spell.

His arrival coincided with a host of stars heading to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, including Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli and Trevor Francis.

Souness, aged 31 at the time of his arrival in Genoa, was accustomed to success in his playing career and moving to a club that had only achieved promotion from Serie B two years earlier appeared to be something of a left field choice.

However, the midfielder’s characteristic battling displays throughout his debut season inspired his new side to their ever first major honour as Samp won the Coppa Italia, with Souness scoring the winner in the first leg of the final against Milan.

That triumph saw the Blucerchiati write another chapter into the club history books as they embarked on a first ever European campaign in the Cup Winners’ Cup during the 1985/86 season.

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Souness’ side were knocked out by Benfica in the last 16, before making it to the Coppa Italia final again only to be defeated by Roma. At the end of his second season at the club, and amid rumours of dressing room unrest, the Edinburgh native headed back to Rangers.

Sampdoria would go on to clinch their one and only league title in 1991 and Souness has since spoken of the impact his time in Italy had on the managerial career was about to embark on.

“I enjoyed training over there,” he said. “I learned a lot from their way and the level of preparation, the pace of everything was fantastic.”