Wingback Robin Gosens has yet to establish a starting spot for himself at Inter, and in some ways his situation has been an unexpected and unusual one.
This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, who label the German’s lack of a start so far since joining in January a “strange paradox.”
Gosens joined from Atalanta towards the end of the January transfer window, and while he had arrived with a long-term injury which saw him miss a few weeks through injury, he was expected to make an impact after that.
Simone Inzaghi had wanted a player capable of adding quality on the left to compete with and deputize for Ivan Perisic, and then perhaps even take over from the Croat if he were to leave this summer.
On the first count, Gosens has barely played, with Perisic’s form and fitness never having taken the kind of dip that would prompt the coach to drop him out of the starting eleven.
Even as Denzel Dumfries and Matteo Darmian have been alternated on the right, on the left Perisic’s form has made him undroppable and he now looks likely to start all of the remaining three matches of the season, which would leave Gosens without a single start since joining.
The German could also be seen as a long-term signing, but if the thought had been getting a player with the quality to take over from Perisic starting next season, that now looks unlikely to be the scenario.
Perisic’s form has meant that the Nerazzurri are likelier and likelier to agree a new deal with him, and so in all likelihood Gosens will continue to compete with him for a starting spot, and it remains to be seen if the German can find much of a role for himself as long as this is the case.
