Anyone who’s following Inter’s ongoing transfer market must has asked himself, what’s the difference between it & last year’s one ? hardly nothing changed, despite the “supposedly” the big changes in the management and strategy in the last few months, but till now it looks that those changes hadn’t been into effect in the transfer market. New owner Eric Thohir opted for free & low cost signings despite promises of “big names” at the end of last season.
One month away from the market’s closing date, Inter has made 5 signings so far, apart from the returning loaned & co-owned players, five signings that maybe be regarded good ones on the financial level, but from the technical aspect they are far from what the fans and what this team actually need. Five deals who could be termed a “gamble”, players whom their signing could turn out to be a stroke of genius or a miserable failure and turn this year to another failed “year zero” of the new Inter project.
Nemanja Vidic was signed on a free deal after his contract expired at Old Trafford, no one can argue about Vidic’s value and the experience he will add to Inter’s shaky & inexperienced defense, especially after Samuel’s departure, but he’s 32 years old and he is known to be an injury-prone player, that leaves Inter still one defender short in the back, especially if Mazzarri still opts for the “three man” defensive line. Till now negotiations to resign Rolando from Porto has proving fruitless and there is no sign of Ausilio looking for alternatives, with rumors of an imminent Campagnaro departure and the thought of seeing Silvestere staying could turn into painful reality for the Interisti!
Moving to the wide men area, despite the signing of D’Ambrosio in January, Inter still needed reinforcements in this position. Jonathan and Nagatomo are highly inconsistent and Inter need more quality wingers for the style of play that Mazzarri expects from his players.
Dodo was signing on a two-year long loan from Roma, a talented player no doubt about that, something he demonstrated back in his Roma days and during Inter’s preseason so far, but the fear is that he’s just back from a long and serious injury, so it’s a risky move filling your void with a player who has been out for the last 6 months.
Inter’s 3rd signing was French midfielder “Yan Mvila”, a player that half of Europe’s elite was after 3 years ago, so what happened there? he ended up in Russia playing for Rubin Kazan, why? Disciplinary issues and inconsistency.
Inter signed M’vila to fill the big space left be the departure of Esteban Cambiasso, the Frenchman is supposed to be the “regista” of this new Inter team. Technically speaking, when in his day, M’vila is one of the best in his position, but after two years in Russia, you need some time to regain your best shape and form. Given his previous problems with his coaches and teammates, Inter could be really risking building their team around him, especially when his substitute in your current squad is Kuzmanovic!
In the attack, Inter currently has two names only, Mauro Icardi and Palacio, a “big name” was promised by Thohir, and names like Dzeko, Jovetic, Morata and Torres were mentioned, only for Inter to end up loaning Osvaldo from Southampton.
Financially speaking, Inter made a good deal with Osvaldo, signed him for nothing and would experiment him for a year. If he performs, then they can then negotiate for him, but as an Interista, you can’t help but feel disappointed for more than one reason about this move. First, Inter needed a mobile forward who can move on the flanks and carry the ball forward, like Palacio, Osvaldo is more of a classic striker who rather needs to be served inside the box and not much of a creator.
Secondly, any close follower of Italian football knows how overrated Osvaldo is, during all his years with Fiorentina, Roma & his brief stint with Juventus he failed to leave a big impact, plus he has always been quite the troublemaker type, something that has cost him much with Roma.
The Osvaldo deal above demonstrates how the Inter management is handling the transfer market, they are still after the easiest and cheapest solutions, overlooking the team’s real needs, they are just filling the holes as Moratti and Branca used to do in the last couple of years. Something that has resulted in disastrous results, and something that Inter can’t afford to see happen again this year.
With 30 days still remaining till the end of the market, there’s still time for Thohir and Ausilio to patch things up. And I’m not talking here about the Medel deal. A defender and another attacker is still needed in order for this team to have a real shot of competing for the top three spots, so will Thohir make his move and surprise everyone as he did with Hernanes?