Inter Shortlist Five Big Names For 2009

According to Tuttosport, Inter Milan have shortlisted five big possible signings for next summer, and will immediately begin preparing the groundwork for their transfers.

The Nerazzurri this summer pulled off three major acquisitions, snapping up Sulley Muntari, Ricardo Quaresma and Amantino Mancini.

However, the purchases of the former two proved to be rather rushed, as Muntari only arrived after the failure to buy Chelsea’s Frank Lampard, while Quaresma’s deal was only sealed just hours before the closure of the transfer window.

Inter President Massimo Moratti wants to ensure that the transfer work next summer is more decisive, and has already drawn up a five-man shortlist on which the club will begin to work on.

The first of these is Benfica winger Angel Di Maria, who impressed hugely at the recent Olympics, scoring the winner for Argentina in their final win over Nigeria. Indeed, Sportmediaset claimed a few days ago that Inter have already agreed a deal with Benfica sporting director Rui Costa, which will see the talented player swap the Estadio Da Luz for San Siro next summer.

The second player on Inter’s shortlist is another Olympic star, Thiago Neves of Brazil. The midfielder recently joined Hamburg from Fluminense, but Inter are being tipped to go head-to-head with Milan for his signature next summer.

The third on Moratti’s hit-list is Atletico Madrid star Sergio Aguero, who is regarded as one of the world’s best young players. The Argentine has long been linked with the Nerazzurri, and indeed a few months ago the forward’s father-in-law to be Diego Maradona admitted that it was possible Aguero could end up at San Siro in the near future.

Two centre midfielders complete the shortlist. The first is Roma’s Alberto Aquilani, who Inter tentatively tried to sign this summer. The second is Napoli wonderkid Marek Hamsik, who is hugely admired by Inter boss Jose Mourinho, and who is tipped by many to develop into the best centre midfielder in Europe in the coming years.

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Inter coach Jose Mourinho believes that foreign investors who take over football clubs are only good if they show the same passion and enthusiasm as Roman Abramovic at Chelsea.

The former Blues coach spoke about the recent take over at Manchester City by the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment.

Mourinho insists that he welcomes club take over’s but only if those who become new owners show real passion for the game.

“As a professional I am talking about Manchester City’s recent take over by the Arabs and my own experience with Roman Abramovic at Chelsea, I think that these investors should be welcome,” Mourinho told ANSA.

“However, I believe that they should only be welcome if they show great passion as well as the interests they have at first hand.

“I worked three years with Abramovic at Chelsea, everyone used to speak about the money but he had great passion.”

Meanwhile, Inter could only manage a 2-2 draw against Swiss side Lucerne on Friday night. The Nerazzurri went down 2-0 before new signing Ricardo Quaresma inspired them to a comeback on his debut.

Salvatore Landolina

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After a summer-long soap opera, Jose Mourinho finally got his man and signed Porto winger Ricardo Quaresma. Carlo Garganese asks if this is a good or bad move for Inter…

Having watched Inter’s first game of the season at Sampdoria on Saturday night, I have to confess that I was not overly impressed with what I saw from the Nerazzurri.

Granted, Inter had a lot of problems to deal with going into the clash. They were without a host of centre backs, meaning that Esteban Cambiasso had to partner the still not fully-fit Marco Materazzi. The midfield had its spine removed as Patrick Vieira was sidelined too.

It was coach Jose Mourinho’s debut in Serie A, and despite his undoubted qualities, he is still settling in to the new footballing culture, while many of his players are still getting to grips with the new 4-3-3 formation. Finally, Inter were up against a fine Sampdoria team, who only lost twice at home last season, possess Italy internationals such as Antonio Cassano and Angelo Palombo, and are a match for anyone on their day at the Stadio Ferraris.

A draw was a good result for an opening day encounter, especially considering none of the big-five teams won at the weekend. However, the performance was far from inspiring and Inter were very poor as an attacking force, barely testing Samp goalkeeper Antonio Mirante aside from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal, which possibly should have been disallowed for handball.

I left the game on Saturday night pondering whether Inter’s 4-3-3 formation could work with the forward players they have at their disposal. In order to get the best out of such a system you need to be able to counterattack at lightning speed, mainly via the wide players. The likes of Arjen Robben and Damien Duff did this to devastating effect at Chelsea during Mourinho’s time there. However, a 36-year-old Luis Figo will not stretch the play, and many of the other forward options, even Ibrahimovic himself, are hardly renowned for their dynamism.

When Inter came forward against Sampdoria they were slow and predictable, and when they tried to counter-attack they did not have the legs to exhaust their opponents.

The signing of Ricardo Quaresma potentially solves this problem. He has pace, skill, flair and imagination in abundance, and could possibly provide that bit of attacking creativity that Inter were lacking these last two seasons, particularly in the Champions League.

On his day, Quaresma is a world-beater, and I can remember him completely out-shining Cristiano Ronaldo during a friendly against Italy in February, when he scored Portugal’s consolation in a 3-1 defeat. If the 24-year-old can regularly turn out these kinds of performances for Inter, he will be an inspired purchase.

However, consistency is a big problem for Quaresma, and he is just as liable to stink as he is to shine. In this respect, he is something of an unusual signing by Mourinho, who has traditionally preferred efficient team players rather than unpredictable individuals. In Italy Quaresma will have to learn to deal with tactical rigidness and discipline, and some critics doubt whether he is capable, especially for a mental point of view, of adapting.

Quaresma’s big game temperament has also been questioned. He flopped at Barcelona during one season there in 2003/04, although admittedly he was only 20 at the time. He also had no impact at Euro 2008 for Portugal, even if he started just one match, a dead-rubber tie against Switzerland in which he was possibly the worst player on the pitch.

Personally, I believe that Quaresma’s success at Inter is tied to just how well Mourinho’s 4-3-3 formation holds up in Serie A. I am still not convinced that this system is particularly well suited to the slower Italian game where midfields are congested, but who am I to question the innovative Mourinho? If the 4-3-3 is a success, then there is every chance Quaresma will be a success too.

What are your views on this topic? Is Quaresma’s signing a good or bad idea? Will he be a success in Italy? Will he help bring the best out of Mourinho’s 4-3-3 formation?

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Nicola Legrottaglie has told Inter and the rest of Europe to watch out this season because Juventus are “tough cookies”.

The Bianconeri had a promising start to the season on Sunday night when, despite conceding a late equaliser at Fiorentina to draw 1-1, the signs were positive.

Legrottaglie himself had a fine game at centre back, and he has again been rewarded with a call-up to the Italy national team.

Speaking from the training base in Coverciano, the 31-year-old warned bitter rivals Inter, and the rest of Europe, that his club side will surprise many people this campaign.

“Juventus will never suffer against anyone, in fact the other teams will suffer when they face us because we'll be hard to beat,” he stated.

“We're tough cookies and Inter Milan will soon realize it!

“Juventus will surprise people in the Champions League too, especially if we go through the first group and we get to the knock-out stage"

The Old Lady were drawn in what many people are calling the ‘Group of Death’ in the first stage of Europe’s premier club competition. Spanish champions Real Madrid, UEFA Cup holders Zenit St Petersburg, and minnows BATE will all fight it out for qualification from Group H.

Gianni Wilson

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The official word is out! Inter Milan have finally captured Portuguese international, Ricardo Quaresma for €18 million from Porto.

According to the Porto official website, the transfer saga involving Ricardo Quaresma has come to an end after it was confirmed that he has joined Jose Mourinho at Inter.

Mourinho has made no secret of his desire to bring Quaresma to the San Siro and after the draw against Sampdoria, it seemed very unlikely the winger would arrive as Inter president, Massimo Moratti stated the club do not require his services.

The Special One was clearly disappointed by this, but apparently he has convinced Moratti to open his bank account once more to sign Quaresma.

The financial details of the deal were also released and it stipulates one of Inter's players going in the opposite direction. The Nerrazzuri will pay Porto €18.6 million, plus another €6 million in performance-based bonuses, while also including young Portuguese midfielder, Vitor Hugo Pélé, with the 20 year old going to Porto on a permanent transfer.

Pélé, considered a bright prospect and budding talent, is valued at about €6 million meaning that the total valuation for Quaresma stands at €30.6 million.

It now seems that Mourinho has all the pieces to his Inter puzzle after bringing in Amatino Mancini, Sulley Muntari, and now Ricardo Quaresma in the summer transfer window. Meanwhile, Porto have lost one of their stars and it is not yet known if they have lined up a replacement for him before the transfer market closes.

Adam Scime

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has showered praise on new Inter coach Jose Mourinho, describing him as the “most complete boss" that he has ever had.

Ibrahimovic is well known to have had his fair share of problems in the past with coaches, including former Inter tactician Roberto Mancini.

However, the Swede is absolutely delighted by his relationship with Mancini’s successor, Mourinho, and has been blown away by the qualities of the Portuguese.

“He is the most complete boss that I have ever had both on and off the pitch,” Ibra told the Gazzetta dello Sport.

“He pays attention to every detail and you can see the difference immediately. There is a new spirit - the squad has more belief and we are ready to control games.”

Ibrahimovic also spoke about his ongoing knee problems. The 26-year-old has suffered terribly with a chronic knee injury this calendar year, and this forced him to miss most of Inter’s Scudetto run-in last season.

He has also had his fair share of fitness worries in pre-season, but he insists that his knee is holding up well now.

“The knee is much better,” he stated.

“I can't say that it is completely healed but I am already able to play a game every three days.”

Ibrahimovic will be hoping that he is at his best this weekend, as Inter kick off the new Serie A season with a trip to Sampdoria.

Luca Capofranco

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Internazionale 2-2 AS Roma (6-5 pens.)

After a thrilling 2-2 draw and a barren period of extra time, the most dramatic of penalty shootouts eventually saw Inter captain Javier Zanetti seal the win after Totti and Juan missed their spot-kicks...

Jose Mourinho's side took the lead through new-signing Sulley Muntari, before Daniele DeRossi equalized early in the second half. The San Siro then erupted when Mario Balotelli's cool finish gave Inter an advantage once again on 84 minutes, but Mirko Vucinic equalized from a corner in the 89th minute and the match went into overtime!

The overtime remained scoreless and the game went to penalties. Vucinic, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Julio Baptista, Balotelli, and Marco Cassetti all scoring before Dejan Stankovic slammed his penalty against the bar. DeRossi and Maxwell then converted before Francesco Totti took an identical penalty to Stankovic, his penalty staying out after hitting the crossbar. It went to sudden death as Julio Cesar saved Jaun's spot-kick before Captain Javier Zanetti won it for the Nerrazzuri to start off their season in a dramatic and victorious fashion.

Full report to follow.

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Lazio coach Delio Rossi admitted he would love to see Hernan Crespo re-join the Biancocelesti.

It's no secret that Inter coach Jose Mourinho wants to get rid of at least one of his six strikers, which he considers to be an exaggerated amount for one team. One of the strikers whose position seems to be slightly uncertain is Hernan Crespo, and it's also no secret that his former club Lazio are interested in taking him back to Rome.

The Biancocelesti's coach Delio Rossi commented on these rumours, admitting he would sign the player immediately if it were up to him.

"If I have to give permission for the purchase of a player who is like filler or to do a favor to another team," he said, "I would say no. But if we talk about players of the level of Crespo, then it's another matter."

It seems that Valdanito's return to the Italian capital is not just a Lazio fan's dream, but a serious project. Certainly it would allow the 33-year-old Argentinean striker to have a guaranteed starting place, which he does not have at Inter, for whom he scored just 7 goals last season.

Danilo Pochini

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