In the 2-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League, it was evident that Inter missed having Radja Nainggolan in the middle of the park. With the Belgian to be out for a few weeks at least, Inter manager Luciano Spalletti will have to come up with an alternative solution to make up for his absence.
While not like for like by any means, Turin based newspaper Tuttosport suggest that Spalletti tries to make the most of Lautaro Martinez and Keita Balde’s respective desire’s to shine at the club having played bit part roles in this early stage of the season.
Lautaro has played second fiddle to Mauro Icardi and has made a total of five appearances across all competitions, only two of which have been starts. The Argentine striker showed in pre-season his ability to link-up with Icardi and this could be something Spalletti will look to rekindle in the coming weeks until Nainggolan is back.
Keita on the other hand has not quite performed as expected when given the chance and could well benefit from an extended run in the team as a starter in a more central role rather than out wide.
