Asllani To Get More Playing Time As Brozovic Edges Towards Exit Door At Inter Milan, Italian Media Report

Inter midfielder Kristjan Asllani is set to be given more opportunities to play during the remaining weeks of the season, with Marcelo Brozovic looking increasingly likely to leave the club in the summer.

This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who report that with all signs pointing towards an exit for Brozovic at the end of the season, the 21-year-old Albanian international will likely get more opportunities.

When Asllani joined Inter from Empoli last summer, the plan clearly looked to be to have Brozovic be the first-choice option in the regista role and the Albanian to back him up.

However, this has not been how things have went at all, as injuries to Brozovic and Asllani having been deemed not ready to be a full-time starter forced coach Simone Inzaghi to look for an alternative solution.

That solution ended up being transitioning Hakan Calhanoglu to the deeper role on the pitch, and far from being only a stopgap solution, the 29-year-old former AC Milan has made the role his own.

This has been so much the case that even with Brozovic back fit, Calhanoglu has been first-choice at the base of Inter’s midfield trio.

Particularly given how the Turkish international has not quite found the right chemistry when returning to the position on the left of midfield when Brozovic has been back at regista, the sense is that the deep-lying role is now Calhanoglu’s main position.

This fact, along with some issues off the pitch between Brozovic and Inter, has meant that it now looks very probable that the Nerazzurri will sell the Croat during the summer, something that would have seemed unthinkable twelve months ago.

What this means for Asllani is that the former Empoli midfielder will likely be considered to be the backup to Calhanoglu next season, rather than the deputy for Brozovic as was expected when he was signed.

The situation being what it is has meant that the Albanian has not played much this season, but Inter intend to give him a more prominent role as the backup regista next campaign even if he is not considered a first-choice starter.

What this entails is that, over the remainder of the season, Calhanoglu will be seen as the first-choice starter at the base of midfield, but Asllani will be given more playing time, whilst Brozovic will receive less given that he appears to be on the way out.