The Inter squad of Antonio Conte has already lost a number of players, and could be set for even more big departures, as the Nerazzurri have already been significantly transformed since the Serie A title-winning coach departed.
This is highlighted in today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, who suggest that by the start of the 2023-24 campaign, only Nicolo Barella, Alessandro Bastoni, Lautaro Martinez, and Marcelo Brozovic could still be at the club from Conte’s time in charge.
Under Conte, Inter tended to play with a very well-defined starting eleven, as the coach knew which players he trusted in certain roles.
When the former Juventus and Chelsea and current Tottenham Hotspur coach departed in the summer of 2021 not long after winning the title, he was followed out the door by Achraf Hakimi and Romelu Lukaku who left in big money sales later that summer.
Meanwhile, Christian Eriksen was effectively forced to leave after his health scare at the Euros, as players with his cardiac implant are not permitted to play in Italy.
Wingback Ivan Perisic left on a free transfer last summer, and a number of players could follow in this coming summer transfer window.
Milan Skriniar increasingly looks set to follow the Croat in leaving for nothing, whilst Samir Handanovic and Stefan de Vrij see their contracts run out at the end of the current season.
Meanwhile, Lukaku is back on loan from Chelsea, but the Belgian looks a shadow of the player he had been under Conte and it is far from certain that the Nerazzurri will loan him back next summer.
This leaves just four players from Conte’s first-choice starting eleven when he won the title, and even then it would be hard to say that all of Barella, Bastoni, Martinez, and Brozovic will still be at the club come the start of next season given the upheaval that has characterized the squad.
