The midfield battle in Inter’s Supercoppa Italiana clash with AC Milan is set to feature an interesting dynamic which pits the Rossoneri’s past against its present and future.
This is highlighted in today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, who note that former Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu will vie for central superiority with a player who has emerged as a leader in midfield for the Rossoneri, in the form of Sandro Tonali.
Calhanoglu is hardly the first player to have made the jump across the derby divide in Milan, but the Turk certainly caught the attention with his move from Milan to Inter in the summer of 2021.
The former Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg midfielder had spent four years at Milan, but hardly looked back as he established a key role in midfield for the Nerazzurri.
Calhanoglu scored a penalty against his old team in his first Milan derby wearing an Inter shirt, and from there has only further cemented that he is an Inter player and no longer a Milan one, on any level.
Calhanoglu’s departure from the Rossoneri left a hole in the team’s midfield, and the player who has stepped up to fill it is none other than Tonali.
The 22-year-old had spent one season in Milan with Calhanoglu, having joined from Brescia one year before the Turk departed.
During Tonali’s first season, the young midfielder was not able to really make his mark in the Rossoneri midfield, as his performances were not yet at the level where he could displace a player of Calhanoglu’s quality and experience from the starting eleven.
However, over time the former Brescia man has matured and become an important player for his team, both in terms of his contributions on the pitch and the sense of leadership that he brings.
This evening, the two midfielders will go head to head in midfield, where Calhanoglu will hope to make Milan regret allowing him to leave, whilst Tonali will be aiming to prove that he has not only replaced but surpassed his former teammate.
