Former Hibs star suffers heartbreaking relegation just months after blockbuster January move

US Sassuolo players shows their dejection during the Serie A TIM match between US Sassuolo and Cagliari at Mapei Stadium (Pic: Getty)

The Easter Road favourite made a £5m switch at the start of the year and his future at his new club could have been thrown into doubt.

When former Hibs favourite Josh Doig made the £5 million January switch from Hellas Verona to their Serie A rivals Sassuolo he was probably expecting to kick on with his burgeoning career.

However, the 22-year old’s future at his new club has been thrown into doubt after the penultimate round of fixtures in this season’s Italian top flight which confirmed the Reggio based club’s relegation to Serie B for nest season. Meanwhile, former club Hellas secured their survival.

Sassuolo, with Doig in the starting line-up, were beaten 2-0 at home by Cagliari which means they are now two far behind the teams ahead of them to catch up even with a win in their final fixture away to Lazio. They had managed just one win in their last nine league matches which actually came at home to champions Inter.

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Doig made 15 appearances for his new club after joining in January and 29 Serie A appearances this season combined with his turnout for Hellas in the fist half of the campaign. What the future holds for the Scotland under 21 international is now unclear though with relegation almost certainly meaning that several first team stars will move on.

If the former Hibee is one of the players to move on then he will likely have plenty of interest not just in Italy but, more than likely, across Europe and back in the UK too. He was hugely impressive during his time at Hellas having moved their from Edinburgh in 2022 for a fee of £3 million.

Of course, staying with Sassuolo will be an option having only spent half a season there as it stands but the full-back may want to explore his options especially as he looks to stay fresh in the mind of Scotland boss Steve Clarke. A place in the final squad for this summer’s European Championships looks unlikely if both Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney are fit but Doig is clearly a player in contention for the national team having been called up as recently as last November although he is still to earn his first senior cap.