Inter have a secret weapon in the midfield combination of Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, according to Italian journalist Stefano Agresti.
Writing in today’s newspaper edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport, Agresti argued that Nerazzurri coach Simone Inzaghi could drag his side back into the Serie A title race by relying Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan.
The journalist suggested that Turkey international Calhanoglu and former Armenia star Mkhitaryan had the versatility and completeness in their respective games to make a significant impact for Inter over the remainder of the season.
“The new Inter, the one that has won seven out of eight, beating the invincible Napoli, has a soul that is sometimes a little neglected, squeezed as it is between the attention that is inevitably reserved for attackers, and those that concern some defenders at the centre of the transfer market, like Milan Skriniar,” Agresti claimed.
“This special and hidden soul, deserving of more consideration by all those who follow the Nerazzurri, has the faces and feet of two midfielders: Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan.
“Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan have many uncommon qualities, which can be encapsulated in one word: completeness. They can do almost everything, and almost everything well.
“They have unquestionable technique, but they put it at the service of the team with a remarkable spirit of sacrifice. So they run and chase, two gestures that are not taken for granted by those who could be noticed even with just a touch, a shot, a pass. They give balance,” he added.
Agresti also argued that Calhanoglu’s excellent form in covering for the injured Marcelo Brozovic before Christmas was crucial to Inter, but he was aided heavily by Mkhitaryan.
“They are quite similar, they are certainly not so different that they form a natural pair. It is almost automatic, for example, that Barella would complement the Turk or the Armenian, because he is different, he is something else. Yet those two manage not to be alternatives, but complementary.
“So much so that Inter, thanks to them, managed to do without Brozovic, formerly irreplaceable, even from mid-September.
“It was in that moment of great difficulty, when everything seemed to be on the verge of disappearing, that Inzaghi found the set-up: Calhanoglu at the helm, Mkhitaryan playing alongside him, almost a double director. Thus came the qualification for the Champions League Round of 16 and the seven league victories.
“Calhanoglu and Mkhitaryan are pure talents. With maturity they have added a tactical ductility to their innate qualities that they did not have before.
“Thus the Armenian last season managed to play as a central midfielder in Roma without Mourinho’s team losing balance. And the Turk, a trequartista in post-Covid AC Milan, has taken Inter first as an inside player and now as a regista.
“When Brozovic returns, Inzaghi will have an extra solution. But now, even without him, he can confidently plan the Scudetto comeback. Because he has strong attackers, defenders coveted by many, a team man like Barella. But also because, in the middle, they have a new soul,” he concluded.
Mkhitaryan joined Inter on a free transfer from Roma last summer, whilst Calhanoglu arrived from Milan the year before after his contract with the Rossoneri expired.
