(Serious) Take on Inter following today’s mind-fuck
It’s done, Antonio Conte has actually been let go. And if the shit-show would end there, I would gladly accept it. But, this doesn’t just end with Conte. It seems likely that several staff members will be joining Conte in exiting the club, including Antonio Pintus and possibly Lele Oriali. Various reports, fortunately claim however, that the top management — Marotta, Ausilio among others will be staying at the club, especially after Inter secured a 275 Million Euro loan from Oaktree Capital.
Conte’s departure of course was completely pushed by Conte himself on the valid grounds that if he was to remain, he wanted the club to invest more money into improving the squad. What soured the relationship between Zhang and Conte was that a capital gain of 70 ish Million was a non-negotiable for Zhang.
I think everyone knows what that means, despite Inter’s considerable depth, 70 Million isn’t a fee they can get by selling bench fodder. At best, Stefano Sensi gets a 25 Million fee but that’s where it ends. Inter would have to sell at-least one key player, which would seriously dent their hopes of retaining the title, especially with the way Atalanta are shaping up. And yes, despite me calling a bunch of Inter players non-negotiables, the truth is very few of them are really immune to being transferred.
The first question, Inter needs to address is who can really replace Conte. Massimiliano Allegri in many ways is the best option, considering he has positive historical precedence. He replaced Conte at Juventus, and according to some (including me), levelled up that team. The question of course, is whether he would join Inter, especially if the Real Madrid job becomes available.
My take is yes, Inter right now have the first-movers advantage, they have clarity over the fact that they need a new manager. And while the Real Madrid and Zidane scenario plays out, Inter have the chance to pitch their project to Allegri.
Having said that, I think Allegri has been waiting patiently, up-till now, only because he wants an opportunity at Real Madrid, and I have no doubt that if Zidane exits tomorrow, Allegri will choose Madrid over Inter in a heart-beat.
Simone Inzaghi of course seems like the manager we will end up with according to most in the Italian media. He’s a good tactical fit, actually hiring him would mean a seamless transition, since he also prefers the exact same 3–5–2. He’s of course, the safe pick in such a tumultuous situation.
The other wild-card option is Mancini, and considering the Euros end on the 11th of July, it gives him a solid 2 month pre-season to work with. I’m also of the opinion that both his stints at Inter had a lot of positives, and if given the opportunity to take him back, I think many of us would gladly accept.
Where does Conte go from here? I honestly think that he takes a break for a season. I would too if the most appealing option in the market was a Kane less Tottenham. Unless of course Real Madrid opens up to Conte, re-uniting him with Courtois and Hazard. Remember, of course Hazard’s 2015–16 slump ended when Conte took over and won the league in 2016–17. Would that play a role here in Madrid’s decision making , I don’t know, probably over-thinking here.
As for the players, there’s a few I think Inter would consider selling to ensure they reach their 70 M mark.
The first choice is to sell either Skriniar - someone who’s always been linked with fairly financially well off premier league clubs primarily Spurs and Liverpool- both clubs that really could use an established center-back; or sell Bastoni, an extremely promising left-footed 22 year old center-back. Do I think these are the players who Inter would be looking to off-load? No, primarily because Inter’s defensive depth is appalling, especially because we play a 3 ATB system, Ranocchia and D’Ambrosio, both 33 and our center-back back-ups could only play a combined 1200 minutes this season. Center-back is a position we need to bring in reinforcements for, so I don’t see either Skriniar or Bastoni leaving.
If it were to happen, it would probably be selling Skriniar and bringing in a cheaper short term replacement from Italy.
Then we’d look at Hakimi, who recent reports have been suggesting that he wants to stay. An attacking talent like him will always hold immense market value, but it’s hard to convince him after winning a league title to — “Hey Buddy, you want to go join Arsenal Football club ?”. Maybe if Bayern were still interested and willing to pay 50 Million, I could see this happening. But to me, he’s not somebody we should be looking to let go at all.
And fuck, as I write this, I realise that nobody actually wants to leave this club, everyone wants to be here, and this shambolic mis-management of the club’s return to dignity and glory is driving me crazy, but I’ll save this for another time.
In midfield, I’ve spoken about how Eriksen has really been shining in that deeper role, what this could mean is that either him or Marcelo Brozovic is someone that could be sold, because essentially, for the last bit of the season, they were playing a very similar role. I do not know how much value we could eek out of Eriksen in the transfer market, and with PSG, Chelsea and Bayern among other rich clubs interested in Brozovic, who has one year left on his contract, I do think we could see Eriksen being asked to start as Inter’s holding midfielder and Brozovic shipped out.
Nicolo Barella of course, is probably Inter’s few non-negotiable players along with Lautaro and Lukaku, primarily because he’s still only 25 years old and his chaotic and relentless play-style is a large part of our success.
Lukaku and Lautaro are the ones who hold the most market value, and selling either one would mean, that we would have the ability to keep everyone else, and possibly even buy some players.
The thing is that our entire offence was built around Lukaku’s hold up play which enabled Lautaro’s (and Barella’s) clever movement around him. While on paper, selling one would mean, look we still have the other, but splitting them apart, would be the single biggest mistake we could make, because the single biggest reason we won the scudetto and are even a team worthy of being in the conversation of Europe’s best clubs is Lukaku and Lautaro’s synergy.
So no this is not something I want to see happen, and I hope it does not.
