Legendary former Fiorentina, Bayern Munich, and Hellas Verona striker Luca Toni believes that the pressure is on Inter to win Serie A again even without Romelu Lukaku.
Speaking to Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport in an interview published in today’s print edition, the 44-year-old gave his thoughts on the Nerazzurri’s competitive ambitions ahead of their massive head-to-head clash with Juventus this evening.
Inter endured a summer of upheaval, losing Antonio Conte not long after winning the Sucdetto last campaign before the likes of Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku followed him out the exit door during the transfer window and Christian Eriksen was ruled out for the season for health reasons.
The departure of Lukaku in particular was a blow to the team’s ambitions and Toni believes that the Belgian’s exit is significant, but that the team have still shown enough quality that they should be expected to fight for the Scudetto.
“Inter are strong and in the Champions League they redeemed themselves after the defeat against Lazio,” he said. “Then it’s the Derby d’Italia, a game in itself.”
“Simone picked up Conte’s heavy legacy and made a good start,” he went on. “Inter have weakened without Lukaku, but they have to win the league.”
And on the two Number Nines in this evening’s clash, Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Morata, he stated that “They are different, but I really like them both.
“Dzeko is a striker who can play as a first or second striker: he scores, he ties the game together and makes his teams play well.”
“I have had a weakness for Morata for years because he is one of the very few Number Nines who manages to play well with any teammate,” he went on.
“He can be a classic Nine, he can start more outside. He is less of a pure centre forward than Dzeko, but he is fast.”
“Alvaro, after his recent injury, has put important minutes in his legs in the Champions League and now I expect him to look like a protagonist against Inter.”
