It was a big summer for Inter who saw some of their stars leave, but added depth and seem to have replaced Romelu Lukaku properly with Marcus Thuram, but are they stronger than last season?
The blue and black half of Milan have had a strange summer. There has been confusion, a niggling sense of the process being underwhelming but then a warming realisation that all moves may actually make sense. Now as Inter move into the opening games of the season, they look possibly the most complete and deepest squad in Serie A. Add the fact that they have a motivated group of players who all want to be here and play for the shirt and the Nerazzurri world seems a little less complex.
Marcelo Brozovic was sold to Al-Nassr, with Davide Frattesi coming in to replace Croat, but the turning point of Inter’s summer was Romelu Lukaku. Without procrastinating on this subject, it has to be said that the ‘zen’ feeling the Nerazzurri faithful feel is not really down to meticulous planning. Instead, one could even argue that Beppe Marotta and company have achieved even more than they thought possible, especially when forced into a reactionary position due to the Belgian striker. What followed next was a domino effect. Yet even in these circumstances, the Milanese side seem to have come out on top.
Lukaku, as many know, decided that he would not return to Inter despite most of the deal being agreed with Chelsea. His courting of Juventus and Milan left a bitter taste amongst the Inter staff and players and the deal fell through despite Inter selling Andre Onana to Manchester United to fund the move. Due to the fact Inter had brought the Cameroonian keeper in from Ajax the season before on a free, this still left them up financially although Samir Handanovic and Alex Cordaz had left too.
Inter’s new custodians became the top priority in July. Raffaele Di Gennaro, an ex-Inter player, came back as a third choice on a free transfer, Yann Sommer arrived as Inter’s No.1 from Bayern for €6.8m after a long wait and finally a very astute signing as they took Emil Audero on loan from Sampdoria. This was good business as Onana had left for €53m and Sommer is widely seen as an excellent keeper to boot as he showed against Cagliari in match day two.
Defensively, Inter also had a rebuild of sorts. Milan Skriniar – as everyone already knew – left for PSG at the end of his contract and Robin Gosens joined Union Berlin for €13m. A club favourite, Danilo D’Ambrosio, left for Monza and Valentino Lazaro returned to Torino for €4m.
Juan Cuadrado came in from Juventus on a free, followed by the talented Carlos Augusto on an initial loan deal from Monza and Yann Aurel Bissek for circa €7m from Danish side AGF Aarhus. The big signing at the back, Benjamin Pavard, followed Sommer from Bayern Munich after a lengthy courtship and it now looked as though Inter had a defence that had upgraded in depth.
The midfield and forward positions were also furnished with new options, but some deals gave Marotta and Inter fans a headache during the summer. Weeks after the already mentioned Lukaku saga, Lazar Samardzic was as close as ever to moving to the Stadio Meazza having already undergone his medical with the Nerazzurri.
However, his father excluded agent Rafaela Pimenta from negotiations and sat down with the Nerazzurri directors making high salary demands. It didn’t make Inter happy, to say the least, so the transfer collapsed after days of uncertainties. Giovanni Fabbian, who should have joined Udinese as part of the deal, returned to Inter joining Bologna a few weeks later. Samardzic has remained at Udinese, while his father and Pimenta entered a war of words days before the deadline day.
Without Samardzic, Inter changed their strategy signing Marko Arnautovic from Bologna and Pavard from Bayern Munich. Arnautovic returned to the club after 13 years, joining Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram who had completed a free transfer at the beginning of the summer.
The Frenchman seemed on the verge of joining Inter’s city rivals Milan, but Marotta, who had already negotiated with Lillian’s son in January, hijacked the Rossoneri’s offer, securing the first signing of an exciting summer which ended with the free transfers of Alexis Sanchez and Davy Klaassen. The Dutch midfielder was the ‘icing on the cake’ to put it into Marotta’s words.
Whilst other comings and goings still went on with reserves and Primavera players coming in and out the above were the players of note and early signs are positive. Inter kept the core of their squad and have upgraded in certain positions. The mix of experience and youth seems just right and the early games against Monza, Cagliari and Fiorentina saw Inter secure three victories with convincing performances, eight goals scored and none conceded. The start was strong and Inter do not seem to miss Lukaku much. Thuram has settled in quickly with one goal and two assists in three Serie A games and overall Inzaghi has an even deeper squad than last season.
Inter now have a real chance at challenging for the Scudetto and their title aspirations will be high even though Milan, Napoli and possibly Juventus will also be thinking the same thing. What is important about this Mercato is that Inter have strength in depth and all of the players who have arrived seem to have hit the ground running in their brief outings.
10 years of FIF
