Inter's Transfer Strategy This Summer Needs To Focus On Youth

It may be too early to talk about transfers. But since Inter don't have much to play for, perhaps we should start making plans for the next year. Lets first quickly summarise the situation Inter find themselves in:

• The treble is distant memory, and a revolution is needed to rebuild Inter.

• The focus of the club now is clearly is on youth development.

• Due to FFP kicking in, the club cannot spend too much money. Most of the transfers fuInternds will have to be “earned” by selling stars.

• Inter’s existing resources, a dangerous mix of very old and very young, are best suited for a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 or at a stretch, 4-3-1-2.

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The treble is a distant, fading memory...
In this scenario, the best strategy for Inter is to start a 2-3 year project to build a new team with young players. Here is what I think Inter should do:

Decide on the right coach.
Patience is a virtue. Unfortunately it is also something Inter’s President Moratti lacks. It is becoming clear that Moratti will not show too much patience with young Stramaccioni at the helm, specially if results do not go our way. And when you start a new revolution, initially the results will not go your way. While I like the idea’s of Stramaccioni, and believe he has a great future (hopefully with Inter), if Moratti is not willing to give him at least 2-3 years to rebuild the side, its best to hire a coach on whom the president has confidence. Someone who can take tough decisions without the fear of getting sacked. My preference is Prandelli. He has rebuilt sides before, he is great with youth, and his calm persona is perhaps what “pazza” Inter need to reduce the chaos that engulfs the club. Prandelli’s preferred 4-2-3-1 is also a decent fit with Inter’s existing resources.

If we cannot get Prandelli, we should go for one of Spalletti or Guidolin. These coaches could also suit the resources available at Inter, and possibly build something exciting for the future. What Inter should avoid are coaches who have dramatically different idea’s to what Inter are currently used to, who will try to change too much too soon with too little investment. Inter have been there before (Check out my article predicting the Gasperini disaster), and I hope we have learnt from that experience. So while I really respect Bielsa as a coach, he is NOT for Inter.

Players Inter need to sell to raise funds.
Pazzini needs to go, he is just not good enough for Inter. And he may fetch us a few million. Regarding Sneijder, we may have to sell him to raise funds for transfers, but I would do that only if we get over €20m for him. If we can sell Maicon for anywhere around €10m, I would love to see that - maybe he needs a fresh challenge, but his performances for Inter last two seasons have been appalling. If we can get a €5m+ offer for Forlan, we should sell him too. But if no offer comes, lets keep him as back up. Stankovic we should keep for a bench role, his market value will be next to nothing and he can add some maturity to the bench. I guess it’s also time for Cordoba and Orlandoni to retire. I would definitely keep Chivu - I hope we don't let him walk away for free, players of his quality will cost us at least €5-10m to replace. And his performances have been quite encouraging at CB of late.

Players Inter have taken on loan.
Zarate is not worth half of what Lazio are asking, and neither should we take up Palombo's option – he is just not good enough for Inter. I am not sure about Guarin, he does not look worth the money we are expected to pay - I would give him back if we have that option. But he hasn’t had much of an opportunity to prove himself yet, so I wouldn’t mind if Inter end up keeping him. We should definitely keep Poli, he has a great future with us.

Players Inter have loaned out.
Muntari's contract ends, thank God. Pandev & Mariga we should get rid of. Benedetti & Caldirola are impressing in their loan spells in Serie B, and I would like to get at least one of them back to start learning the ropes from Samuel & Lucio. These kids could be the future of our defence. We should definitely get back Coutinho, he has developed his end product in Spain. And as for Viviano, unless we sell Cesar for big money, we should keep him where he is, a back up for the future.

To summarize so far...
IN: Coutinho, Caldirola, Poli.
OUT: Pandev, Sneijder, Maicon, Cordoba, Mariga, Pazzini, Palombo, Guarin, Zarate.
Of course, in reality we may not be able to push Sneijder, Maicon, Pazzini, Pandev, etc for what they are worth. But lets just assume for now (in my fantasy world) that we are able to do that. That should give us about ~ €45m of funds from sales. Plus the saved ~ €35 million from not taking up options on Zarate, Palombo, and Guarin. Assuming we have this €80m for transfers (hey, it’s my fantasy world!), we can do a great job of rebuilding with that.

The Remaining Squad.
GK: Cesar, Castellazzi
FB: Nagatomo, Zanetti, Faraoni
CB: Samuel, Lucio, Chivu, Ranocchia, Juan, Caldirola
CM/DM: Cambiasso, Stankovic, Poli, Obi
AM: Alvarez, Coutinho
FW: Milito, Forlan, Castaignos

Moves in the transfer market.
GK: We are good here. We should just promote youth player Di Gennaro to that third spot.
FB: We definitely need 2 top players here. I like Benatia of Udinese, who can play RB or CB. I also like Isla and Armero. Lets raid Udinese!
CB: We are a bit short here, but we could manage with these resources in a season with no CL to play for, hopefully giving some chances to the young lads (Ranocchia, Caldirola, Benedetti & Juan). We have great youth talent available in this area, and getting a top player may be a quick fix, but we will risk letting our talent go to waste again. I hope we instead develop them over the next 2-3 years, even at the risk of inconsistency over the next season or two, so that we may end up with a top player or two from this lot.
CM/DM: I would like a.... Continued at Inter's Transfer Strategy This Summer Needs To Focus On Youth