Jack Wilshere joining Sampdoria would continue a British link to the famous blue and white shirt... Sportsmail looks at the players who went before him

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If Jack Wilshere makes the move from Arsenal to Sampdoria, he will become the latest British player to take a well-trodden path and turn out in the famous blue shirts with a white hoop.

The England international needs a new start, with a £7.5million bid lodged by the Italian side, with those that have gone before him looking for something similar with mixed success.

No other Italian team has been home to more British players than Sampdoria, with David Platt perhaps the most memorable following his spell with the club which saw him list the Coppa Italia in 1994. 

Sampdoria have made an offer worth £7.5million for Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere

Trevor Francis, pictured battling with Diego Maradona of Napoli, during his Sampdoria days

Graeme Souness and Des Walker are two more to have turned out for Sampdoria

Sampdoria and the city of Genoa have a long and lasting link to Great Britain, with the red cross on a white background that appears on Sampdoria's shirts down to the fact the city shares England's patron saint - St George.

Sportsmail takes a look at the British players to have plied their trade at the Luigi Ferraris. 

Trevor Francis (1982-86)

Trevor Francis famously became Britain's first million-pound player when he moved from Birmingham to Nottingham Forest in 1979, but Sampdoria also invested a sizable amount in him when he was signed for £700,000 from Manchester City just a few years later.

He arrived in Genoa in 1982, at the same time as Irishman Liam Brady, and in his four seasons with the club went on to make 68 league appearances and score 17 goals. 

His first season saw the club set an average attendance record at Luigi Ferraris which still stands today, as Samp finished seventh in Serie A and just missed out on European football.

Francis played a major role in Sampdoria winning their first major trophy in 1985, when they lifted the Coppa Italia, before he moved on to Atalanta a year later.

Francis, pictured with his Sampdoria team-mate Liam Brady following their moves in 1982

Graeme Souness (1984-86)

Former Liverpool star Graeme Souness joined Francis in 1986 for a fee of £650,000 and also played a key role in the club's cup triumph.

The British duo added a dash of experience to a squad which contained a number of young, emerging players, such as future Premier League managers Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli. 

Many of those young players remained at the club for their first Serie A success in 1991, but by this time Souness was long gone, having left for Rangers in 1986.

In total he made 56 Serie A appearances and scored eight goals. 

Souness (left) and Francis enjoy a day out on a speedboat in Portofino in 1984

Des Walker (1992-93)

England international defender Des Walker's time in Serie A was restricted to just one season, during which the natural central defender spent much of the campaign playing out of position at full back.

He moved from Nottingham Forest for £1.5m at the conclusion of Euro 92 and was signed by future England boss Sven Goran Eriksson, but things didn't work out.

Walker played 30 matches for the club, helping them finish seventh in Serie A, before returning to England with Sheffield Wednesday. 

Des Walker, pictured working out during his short-lived time with Sampdoria in Italy

David Platt (1993-95)

Perhaps the first British-Sampdoria player who springs to mind, David Platt joined the Genoa-based club from Juventus in July 1993 for £5.2m.

His Italian adventure had begun with Bari in 1991, following his strong showing at the World Cup in 1990, but it is his time in the famous blue and white which is best remembered.

Playing under Eriksson, Platt was part of the side to win the Coppa Italia in 1994, and in his two seasons at the club he played 55 matches and scored 17 goals.

He then returned home to join Arsenal, where he won both the Premier League and FA Cup in 1997-98. 

That was not the end of his Sampdoria experience, though, as he returned to the club as manager after leaving Highbury in 2008. It did not go so well, though, as he quickly departed with a host of rival clubs protesting that he did not have the correct qualifications for the role. His exit came prior to the club's relegation to Serie B.

Platt lifts the Coppa Italia trophy after Sampdoria's final victory over Ancona in 1994

The team also included the likes of Gianluca Pagliuca, Attilio Lombardo and Ruud Gullit

Danny Dichio (1996-98)

The Hammersmith-born son of an English mum and Italian father, ex-QPR striker Dichio moved to a Sampdoria side featuring Roberto Mancini, Juan Sebastian Veron and Vincenzo Montella in the summer of 1996.

His stay lasted two years, in which he failed to make a start, but he did score twice in six matches while on loan at Lecce.

He returned to England in 1998 when Sunderland paid a little under £1m for his services.

Danny Dichio joined Sampdoria from QPR but was soon sent out on loan to Lecce

Lee Sharpe (1998-99) 

Lee Sharpe's Sampdoria career was short

Given he won three Premier League titles, two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup with Manchester United, Lee Sharpe's stint with Sampdoria does not leap off his CV.

The Englishman was loaned to Italy by Leeds boss George Graham in 1998 but, despite playing under fellow Englishman David Platt, he fell out of favour and managed just three appearances.

After playing for Bradford, Portsmouth and Exeter, his career later took him to Icelandic side Grindavík, before retiring in 2003. Since then he has made a name for himself in reality television, appearing on Celebrity Love Island, Dancing on Ice and an Irish boxing series called Charity Lords of the Ring. 

The British links don't stop there...

As well as a number of players, of varying success, Samp were managed by Englishman Bill Dodgin in the 1957-58 season, with the former Brentford, Fulham and Bristol Rovers manager guiding them to 12th in the Italian top flight in his one and only season.

Then there's Preston North End, who based their remodelling of their Deepdale home almost exclusively on Sampdoria's Luigi Ferraris stadium.

Sampdoria and Genoa line up before the start of their derby clash at the shared Luigi Ferraris

Preston North End modelled their redesign of Deepdale on Sampdoria's home ground