Inter Milan's Dual Strategy to Fund Squad Reinforcements: The Hope Placed on Four Fragile Stars to Reclaim €40 Million

When evaluating football, expectations play a crucial role. If Inter Milan’s final results for this season were a Serie A championship, a Champions League Round of 16 finish, a Supercoppa Italiana victory, and an early Coppa Italia exit, would you be satisfied? Many prominent figures would not be. Before facing Atlético Madrid, they disregarded Inter’s “fear of Spanish teams” and painted Atlético as an easy opponent. Now, these same figures are deeply distressed and enraged. On social media platforms like Tieba, Weibo, and Twitter, a popular viewpoint suggests that Inter’s Champions League exit at the Round of 16, failing to achieve the “return to the Champions League final” goal, resulted in a massive €50 million loss. This loss must have a culprit who must be swiftly dealt with. This is the thinking error created by excessively high expectations. Even mighty teams like Manchester City and Real Madrid cannot consider reaching the Champions League final as “planned revenue.” How could Inter dare to?

Let’s establish a fact: as long as Inter Milan can secure their second star by winning the Serie A this season, it would mark a historically successful and rewarding season. To judge players, coaches, or management based on the premise of not reaching the Champions League final is clearly flawed reasoning. Of course, Inter Milan, as a century-old club, should have dreams. It’s emotionally understandable to feel pain for unfulfilled dreams. However, punishing someone for this failure is not the right path. At this point, Inter must look forward. The club’s reflection after the Champions League exit has led to a dream of signing another high-quality striker, in addition to Mehdi Taremi, for the next season. The key question remains: where will the money come from?

Experts in the football market highlight two main ways to raise funds. The first method is to orchestrate deals similar to those of Zlatan Ibrahimović or Paul Pogba. While Inter’s Champions League revenue this season stands at less than €66 million, only about 70% of last season’s amount, it won’t cause significant financial deficits. Serie A title victories bring substantial additional revenue, such as bonuses from sponsors like Paramount and Nike, which can be in eight figures. Additionally, the expanded Supercoppa Italiana also increases earnings. Hence, there’s no urgent need for Inter to sell a key player in the summer transfer window to balance the books.

However, “not necessary” doesn’t mean “definitely not.” For today’s Serie A, evaluating a “monster-level” offer for a player is prudent. Moratti once sold Ibrahimović for €66 million, using the funds to build half of the treble-winning squad. Marotta sold Pogba for over €100 million. These transactions are successful models and should be seen as opportunities, not disasters, for current Serie A clubs. The arrival, timing, and target of such “monster-level” offers depend on the market dynamics and are beyond Inter’s control. Therefore, it’s unwise to speculate now about selling Lautaro Martinez, Marcus Thuram, or other players for millions.

The second method focuses on reclaiming €40 million by selling some loaned and fringe players, a topic highlighted by La Gazzetta dello Sport. Specifically, this includes Joaquin Correa for €10 million, Lucien Agoume for €6 million, Zinho Vanheusden for €6 million, Martin Satriano for €5 million, and Sebastiano Esposito for €4.5 million, along with a few hundred thousand from other players like Eddie Salcedo and Franco Carboni, totaling €40 million. Of course, €40 million is a target, not an absolute task. Players like Alessandro Zanotti might return to the first team. Even partially achieving this target could improve Inter’s summer window situation.

Among these players, the four most injury-prone, or “fragile stars,” are of significant concern to Inter. Correa, a prime example, has had a poor season at Marseille (15 appearances in league and European matches with no goals or assists). According to his loan agreement, if Marseille secures a Champions League spot (next season, Ligue 1 has four spots instead of three, and Marseille is four points behind fourth-placed Nice with one game in hand), the buyout clause will be automatically activated. This explains the media’s joke that Inter fans are now cheering for Marseille.

Vanheusden, once highly regarded by Inter, has had his potential limited by major knee injuries and now faces difficulties returning to Inter. However, after overcoming injuries, he has secured a starting position at Standard Liège, and Inter hopes the Belgian club will fulfill its promise. Agoume, loaned to Sevilla, showed potential in February but suffered an untimely injury in March, costing him dearly. Esposito is another disappointment. Two months ago, he was a top candidate to return to Inter as the fifth striker next season. However, continuous injuries (currently sidelined for a month and missing the U20 World Cup) have changed the situation. With five injuries (four major) this season, Inter might now look to cash in on him.

In summary, Inter hopes to reclaim some funds from these loaned players. For Marotta and Ausilio, even a few extra million in the budget could create opportunities for significant moves. The only silver lining of the Champions League exit is that it allows Inter more time to plan squad reinforcements for the next season. Central defense and forward positions will be the main focus. Stay tuned.