Reflections and hypotheses in the event that the Italian were to leave and change the Nerazzurri market (but also the team itself)
Can one, from a single outgoing operation, hypothesize a massive change of an entire department and even of a team’s module? If that outgoing shot were to be Alessandro Bastoni, there is a risk. Barcelona’s tight marking on the Inter defender and the continuous and increasing pressing is a constant off the field of these last sunny and blue days (Italy) and if his farewell really becomes a reality in the summer – after having hopefully secured the pass for the World Cup and having achieved the Scudetto objective – the reflections on the Inter defense for next season are wasted. Bastoni has always been considered a strategic element of the team. Left-footed centre-back, that “little arm” that gave the green light to a three-man defense with which Inter won their second star and two Champions League finals in three years. Characteristics which, combined with the goodness of his aerial play in his area and his ability to set, have elevated him as a single player and seem to have strongly convinced Barça, so much so that in Catalonia they are already imagining a defense (4-man, mind you) with him and Cubarsí as two halves of a central, beating heart. The conditional remains obligatory for now (any discussion, on the player side and on the Inter side, will eventually be explored in depth not before having spent every drop of physical and mental energy to sew the tricolor on his chest) but as in Spain they already see a Blaugrana Basto, it is legitimate here to think about a potential future Inter without him.
THE CARLOS AUGUSTO KNOT
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At the moment Bastoni’s alter ego at Inter is Carlos Augusto. The Brazilian – 37 appearances in total this season so far and an increasing playing time, thanks to the Italian’s recent post-derby injury – is a guarantee of reliability but has a contract expiring in 2028. And keeping him would be an even more strategic move in the event of Bastoni’s possible farewell. However, his renewal is currently on hold, despite the proposal of a salary increase (to 3.5 million). Carlos has requests both from Serie A (Roma is there) and from abroad and at Inter he expected greater use of customs-approved rotations this season. At 27, the desire to be central in a project is there, of course, as is the desire to demonstrate his value with much more continuity. And the uncertainty about the future of the defense – with or without Bastoni, with the farewells of those who expire and a revolution that could also affect (perhaps above all) this department – does not simplify this picture.
GILA, SOLET AND THE MARKET
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Having explained the situation of those who are there, looking at the terrain of the transfer market, the possibilities for alternatives inevitably increase. Inter, as usual, is vigilant about any opportunity that may arise, near or far. There are two internal leads in Serie A for now and the first leads straight to Rome and Mario Gila of Lazio. The Spaniard born in 2000 is out of contract in 2027 but even with a year left on his contract it won’t be easy to negotiate with president Claudio Lotito. Not only that, there is also interest in him from Milan and from Igli Tare, current sporting director of the Devil, who took him from the Real Madrid cantera in 2022 to bring him to Formello. Gila is a protégé of the Albanian manager, there is esteem and a consolidated relationship but the Biscione has insinuated itself into the apparent idyll, making the solidity of this (market) thread that could link the two again no longer so obvious. The second Italian runway heads straight east: Udine. The other name is that of Oumar Solet of Udinese, a 25-year-old valued at over 15 million.
WOULD YOU GO TO 4?
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Another theme, certainly not secondary because in fact the most strategic, is the module. In Chivu’s Inter and before that in Simone Inzaghi, it was Bastoni who made the three-man defense almost natural. By removing him, different solutions could be explored and a scenario would open up in which the coach could possibly reorganize a four-man department. A reasoning which, in chain, would bring with it new and different considerations on the market and on this basis new profiles would be sought, not exclusively alternatives to Bastoni and therefore not only “arms” but also pure centre-backs. Chivu has never closed the possibility of playing with a four-man defense but with the elements available, rather than due to a renewed desire for innovation, any decision in this sense would take on the contours of a change made forcibly or by emergency. The topic arose last August, at the end of the pre-season friendly against Monaco: Calhanoglu was sent off and for over an hour his still almost embryonic Inter were four behind. “I think being in that situation was useful. And – he said – it will also help us during the season”. We will probably be able to think about it much more in view of the next one.
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