Inter find themselves in a difficult situation in their season partly because of their decision to sign Joaquin Correa to replace Romelu Lukaku last summer, according to Italian media.
This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera, who identify the club’s reluctance to invest in the right replacement for the Belgian as a root cause for the team’s present crisis in form.
The Nerazzurri brought in a massive cash influx of €185 million during the summer transfer window from the sales of Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku, and it was always known that they would not invest all of it back in the squad.
However, in the case of Hakimi, the team looks to have done well in identifying Denzel Dumfries as a successor to the Moroccan.
In attack, however, the club look to be paying for not just the decision to sell Lukaku but also the manner in which they replaced him, with a lack of bite in attack the outstanding issue in the slump in results that the team has faced.
Edin Dzeko was brought in from Roma as a low-cost and experienced option to bolster the attack, but after the Bosnian was signed the club did not move to sign a player who is naturally adept in front of goal.
The Nerazzurri had been linked with Dusan Vlahovic during the summer but never looked likely to outlay the kind of transfer fee that would have been needed to convince Fiorentina to sell him despite the massive fee received for Lukaku.
Atalanta’s Duvan Zapata and Torino’s Andrea Belotti were two other strikers linked during the window, but both were passed over as the club settled on Joaquin Correa who followed coach Simone Inzaghi from Lazio.
In the view of the Corriere della Sera, this was an error from the club because Correa, for all his qualities as a player, has not given the team the balance and incisiveness that they require in the final third.
Now, even the future of the coach looks to be in some doubt as the Nerazzurri try to drag themselves back into the Scudetto race during the run-in.
The question looms, however, whether Inter would be in this position at all had they signed a more suitable replacement for Lukaku than the €30 million Correa.
