ansaldi

Cristian Ansaldi is the left back Inter has been looking for. He is a player who brings a lot to the table especially with his physical presence, defensive understanding and ability to actually help out in the attack. (Fun Fact: he is one of the few left footed players in the world that can actually use his right foot.)

Ansaldi offers Inter the capability to play numerous positions; left back, center back,  defensive midfield and right midfield. He provides what our fullbacks lack. There are players who can only defend or attack, but not both. He is not afraid to take on a defender or two when going forward, then whip in a dangerous cross. Unlike most fullbacks we have on our roster and seen in the past, he is able to defend as well as attack. He likes to go in for challenges which is great, but can also be a bit of a drawback if he gets caught in late tackles. During his time at Genoa, he was mostly featured as a center back and right midfielder.

image from whoscored.com

The only thing I question about this is why Inter are hoarding the fullback positions. In the past few years, I’ve lost count of how many fullbacks we’ve pointlessly signed and benched. They’ve mostly been the same type of back; mediocre offensively and poor defensively. Plus, this would be the second fullback we have signed this off season after Erkin, whose transfer is already in question after his questionable display in this summers Euro cup outing.

As long as Ansaldi gets along with Mancini, he should be a very good signing.