2024/2025 Defenders Rumours Thread

[El Matador]

So thinking about this, in the last 25 years...

Rejected Real Madrid to join Inter:
- Ivan Cordoba
- Cristian Chivu
- Ricardo Quaresma (people tend to forget this one)
- Christian Eriksen (Zidane factor)
- Marcus Thuram (oh yes)
- Benjamin Pavard


Rejected Inter to join Real Madrid:
- Cicinho (thank fuck)
- Casemiro
- Eder Militao
(granted that for years we weren't in a position to target certain players that Real Madrid was targeting)

Left Inter for Real Madrid:
- Ronaldo
- Mateo Kovacic

Left Real Madrid for Inter:
- Clarence Seedorf
- Esteban Cambiasso
- Walter Samuel
- Santiago Solari
- Luis Figo
- Wesley Sneijder
- Achraf Hakimi


Rejected Real Madrid to stay at Inter:
- Javier Zanetti
- Adriano
- Diego Milito
- Mauro Icardi
- Marcelo Brozovic
- Nicolo Barella
(iirc Maicon wanted to move but Moratti blocked it)
[will soon add Alessandro Bastoni to this list as Real Madrid is preparing a summer bid]


Rejected Inter to stay at Real Madrid:
- Nacho?
(heck, even Modric had agreed terms but Perez blocked it )

overall might have missed a couple, but still... from 2000 till today. Panucci to Inter misses out for a few months as well.


Point of this?
We are Inter. We look at a club like Real Madrid in the eye, money or not.

Also it isn’t just those players. Bastoni rejected the premier league even when we were trying to push him out. Perisic refused man united. Lautaro barcelona.

 

[brehme1989]

Also it isn’t just those players. Bastoni rejected the premier league even when we were trying to push him out. Perisic refused man united. Lautaro barcelona.

Yeah of course. And Skriniar rejected like 4 transfers away. Hakan also had some offers in the summer.

Was mostly going about the Real Madrid situation as they're considered the pinnacle of this sport.

But we lost our fair share of players to fucking Chelsea
Cech, Ballack and Deco come to mind.
The only one I badly wanted was Ballack, Cech wasn't offered a starting spot from day 1 and Deco had the condition that Stankovic would leave, so no issues with those two.

 

[DARi0]

You can always find a CB like Soulet or Koni DW from Genoa and strike a reasonable deal.

According to Belgian outlet Het Nieuwsblad:
Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Napoli have joined Inter in the race to sign Genoa defender Koni De Winter.

 

[CraigM]

Also it isn’t just those players. Bastoni rejected the premier league even when we were trying to push him out. Perisic refused man united. Lautaro barcelona.

Lautaro did not reject Barcelona, indeed he would have loved to have moved there. They were just entering their phase of having no money but still wanted to show they could be linked with big players.

 

[CraigM]

So thinking about this, in the last 25 years...

Rejected Real Madrid to join Inter:
- Ivan Cordoba
- Cristian Chivu
- Ricardo Quaresma (people tend to forget this one)
- Christian Eriksen (Zidane factor)
- Marcus Thuram (oh yes)
- Benjamin Pavard

I'd really like to see your workings on some of these. Madrid *might* have been interested in Eriksen but not for the 25m euros we were prepared to pay for a player with just 6 months left on his contract. Same with Pavard for whom we paid a lot considering he had one year.

It's a bit like saying that Man United singing Lenny Yoro was a sign they were bigger than Real Madrid. All it shows is that Madrid are broadly sensible these days with their valuations and if someone wants to come along and grossly overpay, let them get on with it.

 

[brehme1989]

I'd really like to see your workings on some of these. Madrid *might* have been interested in Eriksen but not for the 25m euros we were prepared to pay for a player with just 6 months left on his contract. Same with Pavard for whom we paid a lot considering he had one year.

It's a bit like saying that Man United singing Lenny Yoro was a sign they were bigger than Real Madrid. All it shows is that Madrid are broadly sensible these days with their valuations and if someone wants to come along and grossly overpay, let them get on with it.

Eriksen was free on a Bosman and had a contract offer from Real Madrid, but we managed to sign him in January. He had every right to say that he'd go to Real Madrid in the summer rather than leave asap.

Pavard rejected them in the summer of 2023 because they told him he'd be used as right back when Militao returns.
The sad part for the Brazilian is that he fucked his knee again for the remainder of the season.

What you said applies to Quaresma to an extent. Real had a first option on him and triggered it when we approached, but we improved our bid to both him and Porto (who got greedy when they saw Real in) and they didn't follow up, but that was mostly because Mourinho had convinced him to join us.

 

[CraigM]

Eriksen was free on a Bosman and had a contract offer from Real Madrid, but we managed to sign him in January. He had every right to say that he'd go to Real Madrid in the summer rather than leave asap.

Pavard rejected them in the summer of 2023 because they told him he'd be used as right back when Militao returns.
The sad part for the Brazilian is that he fucked his knee again for the remainder of the season.

What you said applies to Quaresma to an extent. Real had a first option on him and triggered it when we approached, but we improved our bid to both him and Porto (who got greedy when they saw Real in) and they didn't follow up, but that was mostly because Mourinho had convinced him to join us.

Mourinho, Kovacic, Ronaldo - bottom line is that Real Madrid, especially these days, is the ultimate destination for pretty much every player and manager. That's not a bad reflection of Inter or any other club who lose key individuals to them, just a reflection that Madrid do have a special cachet than no other club does.

 

[SiamoNoi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1903444601945600243

This guy seems interesting.

 

[sdvroot]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1903444601945600243

This guy seems interesting.

Nope, I watched Ukraine-Belgium game and this guy not Inter level player.

 

[wera]

Koni seems more outer defender than central, which is why I am not interested in him as much as Beukema

 

[DARi0]

CdS: Udinese defender Jaka Bijol has reemerged as Inter's primary defensive target for the upcoming summer transfer window.

Mostly due to having 2 years left on his contract which means he's cheaper (~€20M) than Hien / Beukema.

 

[pier]

I'd stay away from Bijol even for 15m.

 

[Besnik]

Inter should do the impossible to find a way to get Hien. He's perfect long-term solution in the centre of defence. He reminds me so much of Bremer. Bijol is just not good enough for Inter.

 

[qb4ever_2k]

Inter should do the impossible to find a way to get Hien. He's perfect long-term solution in the centre of defence. He reminds me so much of Bremer. Bijol is just not good enough for Inter.

How many times do Atalanta have to teach you this lesson again old man?

 

[CafeCordoba]

Inter should do the impossible to find a way to get Hien. He's perfect long-term solution in the centre of defence. He reminds me so much of Bremer. Bijol is just not good enough for Inter.

I don't know enough abou Bijol but Hien indeed looks legit.

 

[Interis7a]

How many times do Atalanta have to teach you this lesson again old man?

Rube knows now)) (Koopmeiners)

 

[Kramerica Industries]

How many times do Atalanta have to teach you this lesson again old man?

Centerbacks are probably the players I have the least concerns with adapting away from Gasperini.

 

[ADRossi]

Centerbacks are probably the players I have the least concerns with adapting away from Gasperini.

Who are the examples of CBs from Atalanta who have worked out at other clubs. Besides Bastoni, obviously?

 

[qb4ever_2k]

Bastoni played like 200' under Gasperini though.

 

[Kramerica Industries]

Who are the examples of CBs from Atalanta who have worked out at other clubs. Besides Bastoni, obviously?

Cristian Romero only spent one year at Atalanta but he's far from one of Tottenham's biggest problems.

Otherwise, at least in the last five years or so, their CBs have either been young talents they haven't sold yet (like Scalvini) or mostly older players who aren't going to have much re-sale value or likely much to give at a top club period once they leave the club...I'm talking the Toloi's, Palomino's, Djimsiti, Kolasinac types.

I mean, we talk a lot about Gasperini's system helping inflate attack-minded players, right? When it comes to center backs, about the most progressive thing he'll do - something we've seen with Conte and Inzaghi as well, mind you, and especially so with Bastoni - is activate wide centerbacks to create overloads in the channels. Otherwise, I don't really know what else he does with centerbacks that would leave them susceptible to value inflation and, again, given that he tends to rely on older players along the backline, they won't sell for much anyway. Gosens and Maehle didn't really take big steps after leaving Atalanta but they're wingbacks obviously, that's different.