Keita Balde is expected to start in attack for Inter during tomorrow’s Europa League second leg fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt, replacing the suspended Lautaro Martinez and the excluded Mauro Icardi.
Milano based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport doesn’t only predict the Senegalese international to be a starter for this game, but also suggest a long future with the Nerazzurri, who have been increasingly persuaded to redeem him.
Keita did not get any game time last Sunday in Inter’s 2-0 win over SPAL, due to the fact that coach Spalletti believed it was best not to risk him as long as the team were winning, stating they were lucky that they decided to delay Politano’s substitution, who had requested to come off, as he went on to score the opener and forced a change of tactics.
But on Thursday, Keita will make his return to San Siro starting as striker, with the hope of continuing from where he left off, which was scoring the winner against Empoli. Spalletti was extremely patient with Keita, putting the players health before the teams needs, but now that recovery has paid off, and just in time. Keita’s speed will be an important weapon in countering Eintracht’s attacks.
Beyond this, the Gazzetta also believe the club will soon start work on Keita’s redemption, hoping to get a discount on his €34 million redemption clause.
“There is a great desire to make Keita’s stay in Milan permanent but it would have to be under renegotiated terms”, the Milano based newspaper reports today.
Contacts with Monaco will start in order to get a discount and alter the payment method, to spread it out more over time.