Inter, Brozovic-Kessie: exchange reopened. Umtiti and Alonso, the ideas behind it

It’s not the first time, in Oporto a month ago the scene was similar: Piero Ausilio and Mateu Alemany facing each other, the director of Inter and the head of the Barcelona sports area gathered to discuss the transfer market. Thursday the new meeting, certainly not the last: this time Ausilio flew to Barcelona with a flight from Linate and was paparazzi in the Blaugrana offices. At the table with the Spanish colleague, the steaming dish, the exchange between midfielders: Marcelo Brozovic over there and Franck Kessie over here, is far from over, indeed it resists amidst the difficulties. The will of the players, seduced by the shirt change, weighs heavily, but also the desire for a rich mutual capital gain. Without underestimating the talk about the interesting defensive redundancies on show in Catalonia: Samuel Umtiti’s left-footed, but also Marcos Alonso’s, would be well regarded at Pinetina. Minus that of Jordi Alba, off the nerazzurri radar and with salary out of reach.

THE INTERTRECKING

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This time sporting director Jordi Cruijff was with Alemany, while Ausilio was accompanied by Edoardo Crnjar, a very active agent at Inter and with good offices at Barça. Quirk of fate, he is also the representative of Roberto De Zerbi: the Italian would be a strong candidate for the bench in the event of separation from Inzaghi, but the Brighton coach (at the moment) has no particular desire to leave the Premier League. In any case, this coincidence confirms how complex the picture is: Inter cannot plan the near future with certainty, every choice will depend on who will be at the helm and which competition will be played in Europe. The Brozovic-Kessie exchange, with a mutual valuation of around 30 million and similar salaries of around 6.5, however travels on a separate track: the negotiation was fashionable in January and is starting to rekindle in view of the summer. After weeks in which harmony with Inter seemed lost, Brozovic took the stage back in a jolt of pride: with Benfica it was him, energetic and rational, and not a bored stand-in. Xavi likes that player, a playmaker at Barça height: he would see him well to fill the box that Kessie will eventually leave. Compared to a few months ago, the Ivorian has gained a little more confidence, but not enough to make him fully satisfied. It is true that in this Liga there is also his stamp with a goal in the Clasico, but the hierarchies are clear: he is closed in various forms by the owners, starting from the eternal Sergio Busquets up to the two terrible baby Pedri and Gavie in the Dutch style De Jong. Sometimes, in front of him in the rotations, even Sergi Roberto. Just the renewal of Busquets is closely connected to the future of the “president” Franck: Sergio expires in June and is renegotiating the very rich salary (about 17 million) downwards. The agreement is probable and, if so, the Ivorian would still have an irremovable rival for the same role. The club is also forced to give a cut to Sergi Roberto’s salary, expiring in 2024: also in this case, a (probable) stay of the canterano could be a push for Kessie towards Milan. And an arrival at 0 by Gundogan would reduce the perimeter even more.

RESTYLING IN DEFENSE

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Inter will also be called upon to carry out a major restyling of the defense in the summer, where uncertainty reigns: they will say goodbye to D’Ambrosio, De Vrij is expiring (and still without renewal), Acerbi is to be redeemed and Bastoni could turn into a problematic new Skriniar case. For this reason, Alemany and Ausilio also spoke about defenders: no margin for the immovable Andreas Christensen, Nerazzurri doubts about the Frenchman Clément Lenglet, while Marcos Alonso is an old ball. Among other things, he can play both 3 and 4 and would be good for any coach. He is also a reserve at the moment, the third of Xavi’s centre-backs waiting for Iñigo Martínez, arriving free from Athletic Bilbao. The contract of the 32-year-old former viola expires in 2024 and the operation would not be too expensive. Alternatively, the other goal is to get a loan for Umtiti, physically reconstituted in Salento. He still enjoys a salary of 4 million a year from Barça which he had previously spread until 2026: he now has a “stable” knee and, in general, is ready to reappear at a high level. After Lecce, he will return to Catalonia, but he wouldn’t mind staying in Italy.