Since the 2011-2012 season, Juventus Turin has reigned supreme in Italian football. In May, at the end of a 2020-2021 season dominated by the head and shoulders, Inter Milan ended the hegemony of the Old Lady by winning Serie A. An Italian league title acquired in after two years of revolution within the club and thanks to two strong men: Antonio Conte and Romelu Lukaku.
The Italian coach and the Belgian striker had everything to represent in the long term this Inter who wins again, after a decade of 2010 full of disappointments (his last national title dates back to 2010). But, four months after the Scudetto and the celebrations that followed, the two left the club, leaving the champion to approach with inevitable doubts his first Serie A game of the season against Genoa on Saturday, August 21.
While Inter still have some of Italy’s best players in their ranks, including recent Euro winners Nicolo Barella and Alessandro Bastoni, fans are very disappointed to have seen Antonio Conte and Romelu Lukaku s’ to go after the recent successes of the club.
For the faithful of Inter, the person in charge is found everything: during the penultimate match of preparation of the club against Parma (2-0), the supporters sang songs against the president of the club, Steven Zhang (30), son of the director of Suning, the Chinese group which holds nearly 70% of Inter’s capital.
“Lukaku’s departure, the worst thing that could happen to Inter”
After investing nearly 700 million euros in the transfer market since their arrival in 2016, Chinese owners were forced to downsize this summer. Dependent on the wishes of Beijing, which has advised Chinese fortunes against investing abroad in non-essential sectors, Suning no longer makes football one of its priorities.
Especially since the Covid-19 pandemic pushed the Chinese company to take out a loan of 275 million euros in May with the American investment fund Oaktree, with an obligation to repay within three years.
Club management had no other option but to sell players this summer. Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi was the first to leave for Paris-Saint-Germain, against € 60m. Romelu Lukaku then packed his bags to try his luck again for Chelsea, England. The transfer brought in 115 million euros for Inter Milan, but it represents a considerable loss for the club.
“Lukaku’s departure is the worst thing that could have happened to Inter. He was the best Serie A player, he scored 24 goals last season. He is irreplaceable ”, underlines Filippo Conticello, journalist for the Gazzetta dello Sport, who follows Inter Milan news on a daily basis. The latter does not forget to mention the departure of Antonio Conte, “Which has been very important over the past two seasons. He shaped players and above all changed the mentality of the club ”.
Other departures in sight?
Aware of Inter’s financial difficulties and at odds with his leaders who, according to him, could no longer ensure a competitive squad, Antonio Conte was the first to leave the ship at the end of May. His successor, Simone Inzaghi, former coach of Lazio Rome, officially trusts the Chinese owners. “When I was informed of the departure of Achraf Hakimi, the club promised me that we would remain competitive and strong”, indicated the new coach, at the beginning of July.
In the meantime, Giuseppe Marotta, the sporting director of the Nerazzurri, assured, on July 25, that “Lukaku n ‘[était] not to sell ” and that he was “A centerpiece of the chessboard available to Simone Inzaghi”. “The club continues to ensure that they will not sell other players and that at the end of the transfer window, the workforce will be the same as today. But we saw what happened with Lukaku », emphasizes Filippo Conticello.
Lautaro Martinez continues to be the subject of many departure rumors and Christian Eriksen could leave Italy. Victim of cardiac arrest during Denmark’s first match at the Euro, on June 12, the midfielder (29) wears a defibrillator. A device banned for football players on Serie A lawns but not in other countries and championships.
Light recruitment
Inter Milan have recruited but have invested considerably less than in previous years: 12.5 million euros to secure the services of the Dutch Denzel Dumfries, one of the revelations of the Euro, and the signings, free of contract, the Turkish Hakan Calhanoglu and the Bosnian Edin Dzeko, who know the Italian championship well. A light recruitment for a defending champion.
“I think Inter have less ambition, but the leaders can’t tell. They continue to claim that they are doing their best and that they will try to keep the title. In fact, the real ambition is to get a qualification for the Champions League ”, assures Filippo Conticello.
Present in the European flagship competition for the fourth year in a row, Inter will try to do better than a very disappointing last place in the group stage in the 2020-2021 edition. It will take this step to regain its status as a great European football team. But also by good results in Serie A, while Juventus will do everything to recover the Scudetto. Starting with this Saturday against Genoa on the occasion of the first day of the championship.