Inter could take a cue from the tactical approach used by the Croatian national team at the World Cup to get the best out of Marcelo Brozovic when Nicolo Barella is absent.

This is the suggestion of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who propose in today’s print edition that Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Calhanoglu could play on either side of Brozovic similarly to how Matteo Kovacic and Luka Modric do for Croatia.

When Barella is out, the Nerazzurri do not have another player in their ranks who has quite the same box-to-box intensity and proficiency making late runs into the final third and the 25-year-old does.

However, the technical quality of Mkhitaryan and Calhanoglu could be useful in a trio alongside the already formidable technical presence of Brozovic.

The Gazzetta note how Croatia got the best out of Brozovic, Kovacic, and Modric at the World Cup by playing with three playmaking midfielders, and suggest that a similar trio could be used by the Nerazzurri.