Italian Journalist Riccardo Signori: “Dzeko The Right Replacement For Lukaku, Inter Miss Hakimi More Than Lukaku”

Italian journalist Riccardo Signori believes that thanks to the signing of Edin Dzeko from Roma, Inter have not missed the departed Romelu Lukaku too much.

Writing in his column for Rome-based newspaper Il Giornale, Signori gave the view that the Bosnian was the right player to bring in to take the place of Lukaku, and that in the end the Nerazzurri feel the absence of Achraf Hakimi more.

Inter were rocked by the sales of Hakimi and Lukaku to Paris Saint-German and Chelsea respectively in the summer, with Denzel Dumfries being brought in to replace Hakimi on the right while Dzeko was brought in alongside Lazio’s Joaquin Correa to bolster the attack.

On the right side of the team, there still looks to be something missing since Hakimi’s departure, with Matteo Darmian and Dumfries alternating and performing well at times but not quite recapturing the same level of performance that the Moroccan brought to the team.

Meanwhile in attack, Dzeko has already scored six goals from seven Serie A matches, and the Nerazzurri look to have lost little in the way of attacking quality from the transition to the Bosnian from Lukaku.

“But how much did Dzeko cost?” Pairetto writes. “€1.5 million as an add-on in the event of qualifying for the next Champions League. How much did he bring? Six goals in seven games. It has not been since Ronaldo’s time that Inter have seen  such a prolific goalscorer at their disposal immediately.”

He goes on, “Luck? Good decision? We would have to opt towards the last possibility. The account returns and the team has brought in a goalscorer. Instead Correa has yet to hit the ground running, despite having paid back a penny of his €30 million with the two goals scored against Verona.”

Of whether the team regrets the loss of Lukaku, he writes, “Today much less. Perhaps the absence of Hakimi hurts more. Not to mention the absence of Eriksen who, with Lautaro (five goals in six games) and Dzeko, would have made up a shooting trio. Then, of course, you also need to know how to defend and here there come the problems.”

He went on, “Including the controversy over the glance of a referee on the challenge outside his box that could be worth a red to Handanovic. To say that Pairetto leaned towards Inter is unfair. He certainly didn’t lean against against Inter.”