Inter Milan will get their captain Lautaro Martinez back from international duty just 48 hours before facing AC Milan later this month.

This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who report that it will be a last-minute return for the Argentine ahead of the massive head-to-head clash with the Rossoneri.

Inter coach Simone Inzaghi will not likely be thrilled with the timing of the international break.

On the one hand, the team head into the break in the most positive way imaginable. A 4-0 thrashing of Fiorentina caps off a perfect start to the season.

And it’s not necessarily as though that momentum will magically dissipate over the course of two weeks.

But for Inzaghi and Inter, there is the worry that some key players will not be at their best on return from the break.

Lautaro Martinez Back Just 48 Hours Before Milan Derby

This season, Inter’s return from the first international break will see them face Milan in the first of two league derbies.

The derby is always one of the biggest matches of Inter’s season, regardless of circumstances.

But this season, it already looks like a match with Serie A title implications. The Nerazzurri and the Rossoneri are the two teams who have won three from three to start the Serie A season.

But both will have a skeleton crew in training over much of the next two weeks.

For Inzaghi, he will have Yann Bisseck, Carlos Augusto, Stefano Sensi, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan at his disposal.

The Inter coach will be happy that Mkhitaryan has retired from the Armenian national team. At least one key player will have the time to rest up and train to be at his best to face Milan.

But elsewhere in the squad, Inter will largely be waiting for players to return from international duty.

And nowhere will that wait be more anxious than with captain Martinez.

The Argentine striker has scored five of Inter’s eight goals so far this campaign. Moreover, he is the player who leads the Nerazzurri from the front with his defensive workrate and linkup play.

Martinez will be part of the Albiceleste’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.

And he’ll be back at Inter just 48 hours before a potentially season-defining match.