Inter-Cancelo, the Nerazzurri want to close: only the salary issue remains

Among Inter’s good resolutions for the new year there is one to be achieved in a very short time. It’s about the market and the opportunity to bring back to Milan that Joao Cancelo who broke up with Simone Inzaghi at Al-Hilal (who assisted, involuntarily, the former coach) and who wouldn’t mind returning to Europe in the second part of a season that heads straight for the World Cup. The club has chosen the Portuguese, has decided that the opportunity is too good to pass up, but in order not to be left empty-handed and to give Chivu a high-level alternative on the right, it will be essential to play as best as possible with the time factor.

HOT HOURS

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The Milan-Riyadh axis is operational and this too on New Year’s Eve – a day of rest for the team that will return to training in Appiano tomorrow – contacts with the agent of the Portuguese Jorge Mendes are frequent. The phone rang on December 31st and will continue to do so in the next few hours, precisely because the desire is to quickly arrive at a white smoke. In the maze of close matches in a very packed calendar, the symbolic match to focus on (re)having Cancelo at Inter could be Inter-Napoli on Sunday 11th: the first Scudetto junction of the year in which to give a signal to one of the contenders and, like a domino, to all the others.

TIME FACTOR

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Premise: although the will is there, the arrangement is not the simplest and the main obstacle is the hiring Arabic of the Portuguese worth 15 million per season. The figure, clearly, would be divided in two but even half of it is out of reach, so financial help from Al-Hilal to support that salary will be essential to obtain. But returning to the question of timing, closing in the short term is the objective and the reasons are twofold: to beat the competition from other teams with an eye on the occasion (Barcelona above all but also keep an eye on Benfica) and to immediately give Chivu an element in that orphaned portion of the pitch in Dumfries and in which Luis Henrique – despite improving – was unable to provide the security and continuity that the Dutchman instead guaranteed. January is the month of extraordinary times for Inter (8 games in 24 days, including the last two of the single group stage of the Champions League which are decisive to access the round of 16 through the main door and avoid two more playoff games), and a reinforcement at the start of the transfer window would make all the difference in the world.

PROS AND CONS

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The January market is also called repair but Marotta has made it clear on several occasions that this Inter team doesn’t have to fix anything and that the squad meets the coach’s needs. But then the variable took over, the injury in Dumfries which is eating up minute after minute of the Dutchman who will still be in the pits in such a delicate phase of the championship; therefore, here is the need to look around to try to seize any opportunities. Cancelo has exactly the contours of an unexpected but tempting opportunity: he breaks up with his coach, thinks about a World Cup (CR7’s last) to participate in with his Portugal at all costs, is tempted to return to European football after a year and a half in the desert. The profile is from Inter, beyond the past already Nerazzurri in the 2017/2018 season: an element of experience, flexible and who knows the environment. All pros that are reflected in a lake rippled by some inevitable cons: from the economic discussion linked to the salary (as mentioned, for this reason it will not be the most agile of negotiations) to that on the temperament of a player with a not very simple character. Spalletti, Guardiola, Allegri and now Inzaghi know something about it. With the former Inter manager the rift was revealed in the first match of the Saudi championship due to an unwanted substitution a few minutes from the end and culminating in kicks and punches to the bench. Another goodbye to poison.