Inter Making Major Changes During Summer Transfer Window

Having narrowly missed out on a successful defence of their Serie A title, it seems Inter are determined to make sure they are once again a force in the Scudetto race when the 2022/23 campaign gets underway.

There is no doubt that the Nerazzurri did better than expected last term, overcoming the loss of their manager, their leading goal scorer and their most influential defender before the red, white and green shield was stitched onto their shirts.

Before last season began of course, Antonio Conte had walked away after recognising the club would need to cut costs, his exit promptly followed by the €115 million ($121.5m) sale of Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea and Ashraf Hakimi’s €60 million ($63.39m) move to PSG.

With cut-price replacements like Edin Dzeko and Denzel Dumfries stepping in to replace them, few expected the champions to mount a strong defence of their title. Yet Simone Inzaghi galvanised the squad, eventually finishing just two points behind crosstown rivals AC Milan who ultimately claimed first place.

Yet it seems Inter are determined to reclaim their crown, with club CEO Beppe Marotta confirming a number of transfer rumours are indeed true as he revealed their main targets during this summer’s transfer window.

Speaking in an interview with Italian station Radio Anch’io Lo Sport, Marotta first stated that deals for former AS Roma and Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ajax goalkeeper André Onana have been completed, before he was asked about Lukaku and Paulo Dybala.

“It’s difficult to give a precise answer,” Marotta continued. “Signing them is our goal, but we must evaluate the financial feasibility. I won’t hide the fact that we’ve thrown ourselves into chasing them though.”

He then explained that in order to finance these deals, departures will follow. “It’s much more difficult to replace an attacker than a defender,” Marotta said, going on to add that “defence will probably be the position in which we’re forced to act.”

That appears to substantiate the belief that Milan Skriniar could well be sacrificed to fund the impending arrivals, as the Inter CEO noted that their overall aim for this summer is to “close the transfer window with a profit and containing salary costs.”

Skriniar, who joined the Nerazzurri back in 2017, has proven to be a great signing despite the club only paying €20 million ($21.14m) to sign him from Sampdoria. He has been linked with Manchester United, Tottenham and PSG, with reports in the Italian press that the Ligue 1 club recently saw a €50 million ($52.85m) bid rejected.

That same report insists that Inter are hoping to earn closer to €70-80 million ($74-85m), which could indeed see them turn an overall profit this summer. Onana, Mkhitaryan and Dybala are all out of contract and so would be “free” transfers, while transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed they will pay Chelsea just €7 million ($7.4m) to secure the return of Lukaku.

In that aforementioned interview with Radio Anch’io Lo Sport, Marotta also noted that Torino defender Gleison Bremer “is a world-class player and would suit many top teams” while admitting that Inter are “paying very close attention to him.”

The Brazilian stopper – who was analysed in this previous column – is expected to be available for around €40 million ($42m), leaving Inter in a very strong position. They would of course need to address the issue of wages, but have already seen top earners Arturo Vidal and Ivan Perisic depart the club as their contracts ended this summer.

They will be followed by Andrea Ranocchia, Matias Vecino and Aleksandar Kolorov whose deals are also due to expire, while Sky Italia are one of many sources insisting that Alexis Sanchez – who has a contract to June 2023 – will agree to an early termination.

In total, that equates to around a €25 million ($26.4m) reduction of the wage bill per DAZN, even before other fringe players are moved on, while La Gazzetta dello Sport expects one or both of Edin Dzeko or Joaquin Correa could be sold too.

That gives Marotta plenty of room to bring in the new players he discussed, and means Inzaghi’s squad could look very different when the new Serie A season begins, improving in key areas while putting Inter in a much stronger financial position too.