Inter Milan line up stunning move for Manchester City star
Inter Milan need to keep up…
Juventus’ incredible capture of Cristiano Ronaldo earlier in the transfer window has left their Serie A rivals scrambling to make big money signings, and it looks like Inter Milan might be bringing in some unexpected midfield reinforcement.
Inter have already signed Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan for a fee of around €38 million, and have been linked with some other midfielders as well, including Bayern Munich’s Arturo Vidal, and more recently, Real Madrid’s Luka Modric.
A deal for Vidal was actually close to completion, before Barcelona swooped in to sign the 31 year old Chilean powerhouse for an undisclosed fee on a three year contract.
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Luka Modric was still a viable option though, and the World Cup finalist himself was reportedly considering a move out of Madrid.
But Real president Florentino Perez made it clear that he had no intention of letting the Croatian leave by slapping a humongous €750 million price tag on him.
That is an eye watering amount, even for one of the best midfielders in the world, especially considering the fact that he will turn 33 soon.
This has led Inter to consider other options for reinforcing their midfield, and they seem to have settled on their target in Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan.
The Turkish-born German midfielder signed for City from Borussia Dortmund only in 2016, and spent much of his first season on the sidelines thanks to a knee injury.
He was more regular in 2017/18 though, and played a crucial role in the Cityzen’s record breaking run to the league title.
He will, however, find it difficult to dislodge the trio of Fernandinho, David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne as Pep Guardiola’s first choice midfield options, and the lure of more game time could convince him to move to Italy.
Inter will find it difficult to pry the German away from Man City, and might have to stump up £35.6 million.
City themselves are reportedly looking to bring in a midfielder before the deadline, having lost their first choice target, Jorginho, to Chelsea. This makes it even more unlikely for Guardiola to allow Gundogan to leave.
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However unlikely this move may be, it does highlight Inter’s ambitions of challenging Juventus for the league title next season. Unless they make a big statement in the market before the window closes, they will find it difficult to break Juve’s stronghold on the Serie A.