Midfielder Kristjan Asllani has had his first real wobble as an Inter player in the form of an erratic display in yesterday’s friendly loss to Villarreal.

This according to today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, who note that the the Albanian’s performance was not up to the standard of a preseason campaign in which he has largely shone for the Nerazzurri.

Asllani has hit the ground running in an Inter shirt, having gotten plenty of playing time in friendlies since his arrival from Empoli and largely proved that despite he is up to the task of deputizing for Marcelo Brozovic in midfield and also doing much more.

The 20-year-old started in place of Brozovic yesterday, with the Croat out with a minor muscle problem, and it was not a wholly convincing test of his ability to replace the more experienced regista’s influence on games.

Asllani showed plenty of his technical quality, but lacked some of Brozovic’s defensive awareness and precision with the ball as he gave it away in bad areas on a few occasions.

There will be plenty of time for Asllani to learn and grow into a Nerazzurri shirt, but his performance yesterday was his first stumble and tempered expectations of what he can do for the team right away next season.