Bastoni, Inter renewal: the closest parties dance a million for the agreement

It thundered so much that it rained, one might say. And it rained quickly, it rained quickly. There is no time to waste on the renewal of Alessandro Bastoni. That’s why yesterday morning his agent, Tullio Tinti, slipped into the Inter headquarters and met with the Nerazzurri management. No agreement has been reached. But the parties came closer. Or rather, they found themselves less distant than in previous encounters. There is still quite a long way to go, so to speak. And times remain tight to avoid surprises, in the face of a contract which states that it expires in June 2024. But at least one path has been taken. And the interest is mutual, i.e. that of getting to the signature, while respecting positions that are inevitably different.

POSITIONS

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Bastoni’s position, for example, is very clear. “Alessandro is an Inter fan and he wants to stay,” said Tinti of his client. But beyond the fan there is also the professional. That this season he earns 3.5 million euros net, plus bonuses that already bring him close to 4. The defender wants to be evaluated for what he is, a pillar of the club’s present and future. And so he asks for an engagement that is close to, if not equal to, the Nerazzurri salary ceiling (except for Lukaku of course). He wouldn’t want to go below the 5.5 million fixed base quota, with bonuses that would lead him to exceed the six million mark. On the other hand, Inter have taken a step forward. In the previous meetings between the parties, the figures had never gone into too much detail, but the Nerazzurri had floated the hypothesis of starting from an agreement on the 4 million net fixed base, to then increase over the years. Yesterday Inter put up 4.5 million, in addition to the usual performance bonuses. In summary: there is a gap and it is also sensitive – about a million – but it seems to be bridgeable. And it wasn’t obvious it was. Because it was certainly not yesterday’s first approach between the parties. And also because the defender is well aware that he has the upper hand, every day that he passes closer and closer to summer. A crossroads summer, because he will mean renewing or taking the path of the sale, inevitable in the event of non-renewal so as not to repeat what happened with Skriniar.

DURATION

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Duration There are also two other issues at stake. The first concerns the duration of the agreement: it is being discussed whether the new deadline should be 2027 or 2028, therefore whether the new contract will be four-year or five-year. Then there is also the question of when the economic adjustment will start. It had already emerged last December, in the first meeting between Bastoni and Inter. Zhang’s company had expressed its willingness to start the new agreement from next July 1st. And more than a will, it was – it still is, in truth – a need, in order not to further burden the salary bills of the current budget. In the face of this request Bastoni and his agent did not even want to start a discussion. Here: yesterday the issue was revisited, this time with a dialogue between the parties that can be the prelude to a positive solution. It should also be remembered what happened two years ago. In the spring of 2021, with the contract expiring in 2023, Bastoni extended the agreement for just one season, until 2024. It was a kind of assist from the defender to the club, which otherwise would have seen the contract deadline of one of his dangerously approaching most important assets. It was those complicated weeks for the club, behind which salaries were paid with deferred deadlines, the sale of Hakimi already set, Conte’s traumatic farewell immediately after the Scudetto. Instead of winking … at the deadline, Bastoni said yes to a sort of “renewal-bridge”, with the promise that his position would be re-discussed later. That moment has come.

NOW ZHANG

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The schedule is busy now. Inter play nine games in a month, an entire season is at stake. In theory, the ideal would be to avoid distractions with off-screen issues. But time will necessarily have to be found also for Bastoni’s contract, for new meetings. It won’t be long for other contacts, presumably a further point will be made immediately after the two-legged match against Benfica. And perhaps in the meantime the executives will also have interacted with President Zhang. After all, he will have to give the green light for the investment. Losing Bastoni, after Skriniar, would be planning for the future with a handicap.