Decision time. While the world of football continues to press on politics to return to the field by the summer (yesterday the go-ahead for training from Campania and Emilia Romagna arrived), sports directors continue the hunt for signings, in an attempt to transform the 'current emergence in market opportunities. The money will be less, there's no doubt about that, but for this very reason the skills of the managers will emerge, for better or for worse. Uncertainty about timing blocks operations but certainly not contacts: those are frequent and concern all the big companies, none excluded. The cover plot concerns Inter, therefore Icardi and Lautaro Martinez. Many of Marotta's choices will pass from their fate, all without forgetting Nainggolan and Perisic, the other great Nerazzurri in the balance.
In recent days, Barça's interest in the Argentine seemed to have waned a bit, if only because the 110 million release clause, in light of the economic crisis, has become a rather high obstacle, but then here are the words of coach Setien , to confirm the liking for the forward ("we are always interested in great players like him"), but also the weight of Messi in the negotiation ("playing with him can be a factor"). Certainly Inter will not chain Toro to Appiano Gentile, but he won't even prostrate himself to favor the sale: the 110 million, in the limit, can go down to 90 but only with the inclusion of one (and no more) valuable technical counterpart. At the same time, it will then be necessary to understand what to do with Icardi, whose redemption by PSG appears at least in the balance.
There is always the possibility that the French will take him and then transfer him to Juventus (in that case, however, they would have to pay 85 million and not 70), but also that they will send him back to the sender, thus creating a big problem for Marotta, already forced to do accounts with the returns of Perisic (probable) and Nainggolan (sure). However, the Ninja could serve in the negotiation for Chiesa, even if the monstrous salary (4,5 million until 2022) scares Fiorentina: the story, however, is all to follow, because the feeling between the Nerazzurri and the son of arte viola is now out in the open. Juve also liked Federico a lot, but then Paratici chose to turn to Kulusevski, the first piece of the Lady to come. The others are in progress, but it is clear that the Juventus director has two priorities: a striker to replace Higuain (even if the father continues to reiterate how Pipita does not want to move until 2021) and a midfielder to entrust with the keys to the team.
For the first, in addition to the aforementioned Icardi, the names of Milik from Napoli and Zapata from Atalanta are mentioned, even if surprises like Haaland should not be excluded (but Real Madrid are on him), Cavani (whose agent has already spoken to Inter) and Werner (at the top of Klopp's list for his Liverpool). There are also few certainties about the director, except that it will not be Pjanic: the Bosnian, not very suitable for Sarri's football, will be sold to one of Chelsea, Psg and Barcelona. It is clear that Paratici will use him as a bargaining chip, given that in the clubs in question there are three welcome prospects such as Jorginho, Icardi and Arthur (who, however, clearly said he wanted to stay in the blaugrana). Later, however, it will be understood whether there will also be room for another coup like Pogba (expiring in 2021 and en route with Manchester United) or Milinkovic-Savic, but it is good to reiterate that the priorities are different. Hot days also at home in Naples, where he expects to understand what will be the choices of Mertens, Allan and Koulibaly.
The feeling is that the Azzurri could also opt for a revolution, which would open up very interesting scenarios especially at an economic level. From a technical point of view, however, it would be difficult to replace three 90-metre players like these, even if the problem, of course, scares Gattuso more than De Laurentiis. Moments of reflection also at Milan, where uncertainty continues to reign supreme. First of all, Maldini's position is shaky, followed by Pioli, Ibrahimovic and Donnarumma: all hand in glove in the hands of Gazidis, the club's true deus ex machina. An en bloc confirmation appears very difficult, despite conflicting news about Rangnick arriving from Germany: however, the feeling is that the choice has been made and that silence is only the consequence of the Boban affair, the aftermath of which will drag on to court.
At any rate a small flame on Ibrahimovic remains lit at least until his return to Italy, while an attempt at renewal is underway on Donnarumma, absolutely vital for the purposes of his stay. Gazidis is attempting a mini-extension until 2022 which would move the problem by a year, but allow him to keep his salary high without weighing down the club's budget. All while waiting for news on a possible new buyer, Elliot's true (if not the only) great goal.
