The transfer circus surrounding Inter and the precedent that Chinese owners Suning set last summer means the Nerazzurri cannot yet settle into the new campaign.
Simone Inzaghi’s side got a win on the opening day against Lecce but it took a 94th-minute winner from Denzel Dumfries to secure the points.
Before the game though, there were comments from both Inzaghi and Inter CEO Beppe Marotta that spoke to the transfer situation that is affecting everything at the club.
Skriniar & Dumfries and their Inter future
The two players who still appear to be at serious risk of being sold by Inter are Milan Skriniar and Dumfries.
There is no expectation that Inter would sell both but selling one of them cannot be ruled out. They are yet to make the €60 million of profit from transfers that Suning want to end the summer with. They have reduced the wage bill by 10% though.
In terms of interest, much of it centres around Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. The Ligue 1 champions made multiple bids for Skriniar earlier in the summer but have not returned for some weeks.
Their interest certainly hasn’t gone away though and should they make a bid of around €70m, president Steven Zhang would find it very hard to say no.
As for Dumfries, Chelsea want a right-back and it is thought that €40-50m is enough to force Inter’s hand. With just over two weeks of the transfer market left to go, the chances of those clubs coming in for those players with bids just below the asking price are high.
Inzaghi’s Inter anxiety
Inzaghi has sounded concerned about what he is reading about his team and their possible transfer exploits.
His anxiety is entirely understandable. In his first summer at the club, similar financial goals had been set by the ownership and after having Romelu Lukaku in training for two weeks, he saw the Belgian suddenly sold to Chelsea because a €115m bid came in that the club couldn’t refuse.
The coach has already talked in a press conference last week about how he considers the transfer window shut apart from signing a new defender for depth.
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia after the 2-1 win over Lecce on Saturday evening, Inzaghi said: “I don’t want to joke about this, other teams are buying players every day, we end up in the newspapers only when we sell. The team must stay as it is.”
These comments were likely partly in response to what Marotta had said before the match to Sky. He is the middle man between the coach and the owners and he chose to stress the need for financial stability.
“Inzaghi’s words are understandable, he’s working every day with this team and it’s normal that he thinks this,” Marotta said.
“We have the obligation to guarantee both sustainability and a competitive team. There are still 15 days left in the window, certainly there will be no major revolutions.”
Inzaghi may wish to know what the hierarchy consider to be a ‘major revolution’.
Based on these comments and the way that Inter, whilst overall deserving the three points, were unable to hit their stride against Lecce in Salento, it could take until after the end of the transfer window for them to settle down.
Inzaghi clearly seems distracted and it will filter through to the players that they could be losing a star even once the season has gotten underway.
