Bologna's 'big secret' is now the name on everyone's lips in Italy... how Lewis Ferguson has taken Serie A by storm!

It says a lot about how far Lewis Ferguson has come in Italy these last 18 months that recent links to Juventus and Lazio have come as no surprise.

Rumours of a €20million (£17.4m) deal being considered in Turin coincided with reports claiming the former Aberdeen star had caught the eye of Maurizio Sarri in Rome.

In truth, pretty much every club in Serie A would love to have the 24-year-old Bologna and Scotland midfielder in their ranks right now.

A superb start to season 2023-24 has made Ferguson one of the most sought-after players in Italy and has meant speculation is inevitable — despite the best efforts of his club coach Thiago Motta.

Motta last month pleaded with journalists to keep a lid on their excitement about the player after his standout performance in a 2-2 draw with Inter.

‘We must leave him hidden away, because he’s a player of the highest level,’ said the manager.

‘He knows how to play, how to defend, he has a good mentality, he can score goals. But, from today onwards, I don’t want to talk about him any more. I would like to keep him here for a long time…’

That could prove to be a difficult task. With each passing week, Ferguson’s contribution to a talented Bologna side is becoming harder and harder to ignore.

As one headline in the Italian press put it: ‘Half of Europe wants him.’

The numbers alone are impressive. From his midfield berth, Ferguson has three goals and three assists already this season.

His last strike drew him level with Denis Law as the top-scoring Scot in Serie A history with ten goals overall — the same number the legendary Law Man produced during his 1961-62 campaign at Torino. Decent company to be in.

There have been plenty of highlight reel moments in the big games, too. There was a well-taken winner against Lazio, a strike against Juventus, a brace of assists against Inter.

But it’s those who have been there in person — watching him week in, week out — who have been most impressed with his progress since arriving from Pittodrie in July 2022.

Ferguson has become a key player for Motta, earning more minutes than any other outfield player in the squad.

His tactical intelligence, work rate, link-up play and impact in the final third helped Bologna rack up a remarkable ten-match unbeaten run at the start of this season. Eventually, even Motta will have to give up on trying to hide his rising star from covetous eyes.

‘Lewis works day and night, he recovers well, he deserves everything for the work that he puts in,’ Motta said in November.

That incredible work ethic has driven Ferguson’s success. Empoli’s Nicolas Haas is the only player in Serie A to have covered more ground than the Scot this season.

A good engine alone is not enough to excel, however. Tactical savvy is king in Italy and Ferguson’s ability to embrace the nuances of the game has helped him thrive.

His debut season took place during a difficult year for the club. Sinisa Mihajlovic, a coach famed for promoting young players — and who brought in Ferguson after launching fellow Scot Aaron Hickey into the limelight — was sacked five games into the 2022-23 campaign.

The Serb had been battling leukaemia and his death at the age of 53 in December last year was a devastating blow in Bologna and beyond.

Motta was installed in September 2022, with his remit to steady the ship in his third crack at Serie A management after spells with Genoa and Spezia.

The former Italy international soon started to build a fluid, tactical, complex side in which Ferguson’s versatility came to the fore as he was deployed across midfield, on the wing and even up front.

Three goals in three games to finish the campaign with a total of seven was emphatic evidence of how he had improved over his first year. That has continued this season.

Off the pitch, Ferguson has embraced life in Italy. He signed a new deal taking him up to 2027 over the summer and has spoken of loving the lifestyle.

He’s also got to grips with the language, and had the confidence to conduct a live TV post-match interview in Italian following his winner against Lazio.

His agent, Bill McMurdo, told Sport Italia this month: ‘He has an extraordinary relationship with Motta. Lewis has faith in the coach and he is helping him grow as a player.

‘Bologna is the right club for him, he was convinced from the first day we spoke about it… he’s very happy.’

So what of the speculation that now surrounds him?

Of the two clubs who could look to test Bologna’s resolve, Juventus are the side in greater need of midfield reinforcements, with Lazio having signed three central midfielders in the summer.

The Turin club have had a difficult few months to say the least. First, they were booted out of Europe by UEFA for a year in the wake of a capital-gains case that saw them deducted ten points in Serie A last season.

Then midfielders Paul Pogba and Nicolo Fagioli received doping and gambling bans respectively to rule them out for the rest of the season.

Nevertheless, Massimiliano Allegri has gone back to basics to make his Bianconeri side a brutally efficient force.

The defensive football might be hard to watch, but it is getting Juventus results.

Allegri has pushed his team into second place ahead of Sunday’s ‘Derby d’Italia’ clash with league leaders Inter after conceding just once in seven games.

This old-school calcio wouldn’t necessarily be a natural fit for Ferguson. He has excelled at a Bologna side that boast the fifth-highest possession average and third-most passes in Serie A. Juve, by contrast, are ranked 12th and 11th in those disciplines respectively.

Ferguson told The Athletic recently that he likes the fact Bologna are ‘really fluid’ in their play, with ‘everyone always moving… getting as high up the pitch as possible’.

He would not have that same kind of licence to roam at Juventus, so another adaptation to his play would certainly be required.

However, it’s easy to see why one of the league’s hardest- working players may have caught Allegri’s eye.

If and when Bologna do cash in, a big payday is expected. Ferguson was bought from Aberdeen for £3m, but it would now likely take six or seven times that fee to tempt the Rossoblu to sell a player who Transfermarkt claim has more than tripled in value over the last year.

One thing is for sure. Motta might not be able to ‘hide him away’ any more, but Bologna will still put up a big fight to keep a player now considered one of the star men at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara.