Finally, the Slovak ice giant collapsed. Since coincidences don’t exist, it’s impossible to ignore the timing and pretend it didn’t go exactly like this: while Milan Skriniar he was being ejected, his agent announced in the city and the world that the farewell toInter not only was it something already done, but also communicated to the Nerazzurri club for a long time and on two occasions. About expulsion Simone Inzaghi contested Rapuano’s choices: the night will bring advice and a massive dose of replays. The truths of Roberto Sistici, a party to the affair, are to be taken exactly like this: relative truths. For example, the agent of number 37 assures that he doesn’t already have an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain: frankly difficult to believe, especially since the rumor has been circulating according to which he has said yes to Parisian flattery since at least November. Till now held back by the “sincere optimism” professed by Inter, so many times as to suggest that an alternative ending was possible.
One case closes and another opens. The “true” truth, as always, lies somewhere in between. While awaiting the official Nerazzurri version, if the Viale della Liberazione club deems it appropriate, Sistici’s words close the first part of the case anyway. Skriniar will go away, full stop. The issue of when remains, not secondary: selling him in January would allow Inter to raise some money instead of the zero euros that would result from the farewell at the end of the season. On the other hand, upsetting the balance of an already very fragile defense is not what Inzaghi hopes for: yesterday Skriniar fell, but in recent months he has held up the role and also the wing as a great professional. He will return to his levels. That’s why the idea, at present, is to say yes immediately only in front of a request for 20 million euros. If so, Inter will immediately think back to old goals – Milenkovic – or to other new ones, more or less expensive, ranging from Scalvini or Schuurs to Becao or Djidji, just to name a few expendable names.
From the Nerazzurri Hamsik to the great refusal. Waiting to understand these developments, the other theme is related to how to manage Skriniar between now and the end of the season, if that will be the case. As far as Inzaghi’s pitch and decisions are concerned, in truth, there are no great doubts: today’s Inter cannot do without a player who has in any case guaranteed high or very high level standards for five years now, even in a complicated season like the current one. The captain’s armband, if anything, can be the subject of discussion. And here we come to what, on the fan side rather than the management (but we’ll get there), the Inter world can attribute to Skriniar. Who in the past has assured that he wants to become the Nerazzurri Hamsik, who more recently has assured that he would make his decisions known in due course, who just a few weeks ago thanked the fans for the affection they reciprocated. Here, from a purely emotional point of view – and not only – Milan could contest all these outings: symbols, in modern football, do not exist and by now everyone knows it. We might as well not stand up like that, even if storytelling demands it, and tell ourselves for what we are. A professional, who by accepting an offer richer than his current salary does nothing wrong or wrong. Only the choice that each of us, or nearly so, would make if we were in the same conditions. Whether they feel betrayed or not, what the fans can hold against them, beyond bad performances like the one against Empoli, ends here in any case.
The many mistakes of the management. If anything, Inter as a whole can ask themselves about everything that didn’t work in this very long, and ultimately bankruptcy, negotiation. Sistici assures that he communicated his decision before Christmas. Just five days ago, Marotta still spoke of “sincere optimism” about the renewal. It’s the line that Inter have chosen, exposing themselves at all levels – including Zhang, and it wasn’t obvious – in the direction of positivity. Understandable, in some ways: it’s difficult to uncover Pandora’s box in the middle of the championship, yesterday evening confirms it. Going back in time, however, there are two fundamental mistakes made by Marotta and Ausilio. The first dates back to last spring: Skriniar and Inter had a substantial agreement for the renewal. It was the Nerazzurri who pulled back, the player would have signed. Why didn’t that extension go through? Inter trusted in the fact that yes would come even after the summer and therefore preferred to face it without guarantees on a long-term future. Without taking precautions but also, incidentally, without spending the commission money that every deal, including renewals, requires. Here, from this point of view, the Nerazzurri managers in Skriniar could contest having left a glimmer of hope open, for so many months, to the hope of renewing. Had he said clearly that there was an alternative, and indeed it was the most probable, greater prudence would have been used. But the discussion ends here, because then we get to the other error.
For 50 million euros, in Italy, a very strong defender whose contract is about to expire is sold. Inter decided not to do it in the summer, stiffened by Bremer’s sensational turnaround. The designated alternative – with Milenkovic – which vanished for an upward auction. And yet it is the market, beauty. From then on, many factors came into play, a summer as a player in the showcase: on this aspect it is difficult to blame Sistici. Marotta recently spoke of the “professional and the man” Skriniar, both factors of tranquillity. Here, both the first and the second could not be really indifferent to three months spent hearing about certain figures. Playing with Messi and Mbappé, for the Champions League, is tempting for anyone. Let alone with a much richer contract and a very robust signing bonus, in a city that is not Riyadh or Timbuktu but the Ville Lumiere. In all likelihood, Skriniar wasn’t lying when he promised to become Inter’s Hamsik. He simply changed his mind and he did it because the Nerazzurri management created the perfect conditions for this to happen. Easy to say now? For sure. Should we wait for the Inter version after that of the agent of him? Already written a few lines above. However, the irritation that even today is perceived in the air remains difficult to understand. Ultimately, we return to the lesson of a great master of football and the transfer market: “Today the manager’s foresight is to understand when to renew the players’ contracts. Before it was El Dorado, today the other leagues are more competitive and therefore today we have to be good when it comes to renewing or selling two years after the deadline“. Word of Beppe Marotta.
