The raucous celebrations that followed Inter Milan’s first Serie A title win in 11 years last summer had barely finished before all hell broke loose.
In a drastic domino effect, the Nerazzurri lost three key men as coach Antonio Conte walked out, unhappy with the club’s cost-cutting plans, and Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku were sold to ensure those plans were realised.
Reinforcements were brought in on a budget. Simone Inzaghi arrived on a far smaller salary than his predecessor, Edin Dzeko and Joaquin Correa filled the Lukaku-shaped gap for around a quarter of the price the Belgian was sold for, and just £12m of the £60m brought in from Hakimi’s sale was re-invested in his replacement, Denzel Dumfries.
Inter’s financial cutback came after they reported a record loss of €246 million for 2020/21.
The changes had an on-field impact, as Inter surrendered their league crown to rivals AC Milan.
A year later, the situation isn’t quite as alarming, but big-name sales are a possibility once again.
A year of open stadiums, new sponsorship deals and lucrative player sales has improved the economic outlook, but Inter are still expected to post losses of €120m for 2021/22.
The Milanese giants should now sign a settlement agreement with UEFA by the end of June, having recorded Financial Fair Play break-even deficits every year since 2018.
The latest reports say Inter’s Chinese owners, the Suning Group, want to continue to tighten the purse strings this summer by making a profit of €60-70m in the transfer market and reducing the wage bill by 10-15%.
That will likely require the sale of at least one big player, with Milan Skriniar, Alessandro Bastoni, Nicolo Barella and Lautaro Martinez being the prime candidates.
The sales of Bastoni or Barella would arguably be the hardest pills to swallow, as the Italy internationals are seen as the future of the club.
Bastoni has already won a Scudetto by the age of 23 and is the archetypal modern centre-back, excellent on the ball while possessing superb positional and physical qualities in defence.
Reports of his possible sale to Spurs, where he would slot effortlessly into a familiar role on the left side of a Conte back three, resulted in #SuningOut trending on Twitter in Italy as the Interisti were left furious.
Bastoni’s agent Tullio Tinto has downplayed the speculation, saying on Thursday that “the Inter fans don’t need to worry, Bastoni will definitely stay”, but the decision could be taken out of his hands if Inter receive a big offer.
The same can be said for Barella. The Italy midfielder’s talent is no secret anymore, particularly after his exploits at Euro 2020 last summer, and his ability and relative youth aged 25 make him a high-value asset.
Skriniar has established a reputation as one of Serie A’s best defenders since joining Inter from Sampdoria in 2017.
The Slovakia international’s blend of explosive physicality and composure on the ball encourages the belief that he would prosper in the Premier League, were he to make a move.
Unlike the other three, Skriniar is out of contract next summer, making this a seemingly good time to cash in on the 27-year-old, who would make a strong addition to Conte’s side or as a replacement for Antonio Rudiger at Chelsea.
However, Inter’s own signing opportunities in the market could make Martinez the likeliest to go.
The club are in talks to sign Paulo Dybala on a free transfer, while there are ongoing efforts to bring Romelu Lukaku back from Chelsea on loan.
Should one or both of those players arrive, Martinez’s sale would become more palatable.
But like with Bastoni, Martinez’s agent has gone out of his way to reassure the club’s fans of his client’s priorities – albeit not quite as convincingly.
“I don’t have any reason to believe that there is even a possibility that he leaves Inter. Nobody has said anything to us,” Alejandro Camano told FC Inter News on Thursday.
“But we know what professional football is like, today I say this and tomorrow everything can change.”
Martinez has improved with each passing year at Inter and thrived in 2021/22 by becoming Inter’s focal point up front after two years working in tandem with Lukaku.
The Argentina international’s 21-goal haul in Serie A was the best of his career so far and marked his third year in a row hitting double figures.
