Inter are now playing the best football Serie A has seen all season, according to a leading Italian journalist.

Antonio Conte’s side are sitting four points clear at the top of Serie A, having consolidated their lead on Sunday with a 3-0 win over Genoa.

Most are picking Inter as their favourites to win the Scudetto, with the Nerazzurri on a terrific run of 14 wins in 17 league games.

“Inter are pulling away at the top of the table while playing the best football of the season, not only their own but the best of all,” Paolo Condo wrote in his column for Monday’s print edition of La Reppublica.

“This is because Conte, who we have always defined as a leader during times of war and not peace, has compacted the team by giving it a mission.”

Condo was full of admiration for Inter’s performances in recent weeks, not least because they have come with the backdrop of numerous off-field problems.

Inter’s owners Suning reportedly remain in talks to sell the club and now there is also a COVID-19 problem to deal with, after Beppe Marotta, Piero Ausilio and Alessandro Antonello all tested positive on Thursday.

Deputy sporting director Dario Baccin was the latest club official to contract the virus on Sunday.

“Not a day goes by without voices coming out of China suggesting that Suning will be leaving,” Condo explained.

“And as if that were not enough, now the virus has infected the Nerazzurri’s entire Italian management structure, which until now had acted as a precious buffer between the team and all Suning’s troubles.”