Everything is finally falling into place, or at least appears so. At the end of this week Inter will kickstart a new season, and for the first time in almost a decade, it will do so with everything in place. Solid ownership of the club, competent management with a vision to pursue, an experienced coach who is likely to end the season still in charge, and the right signings.
You may consider these aspects as trivial, but Inter always lacked one or more of these aspects in the past years. This, I believe, had handicapped Inter even before the first game had started.
Let’s start with the new signings. For the first time since the legendary 2009-2010 season, Inter went for players who can contribute to the Nerazzurri’s cause rather than for low-cost options or insecure gambles. The black and blue managed to strengthen themselves by weakening direct competitors for a Champions League spot by acquiring Roma’s Nainggolan and Lazio’s De Vrij. They got their hands on hot prospects such as Lautaro Martinez and Matteo Politano, and were the first to take the opportunity to sign Juventus’ Kwadwo Asamoah for free. And after an extraordinary World Cup campaign, Sime Vrsaljko signed as Inter’s right-back.
This might not be over yet, as Keita Balde is expected to add to Inter’s attacking potential, while Luka Modric is still struggling to be freed from Real Madrid. As Luciano Spalletti rightly remarked, Inter currently have a strong team, with the possibility to get only stronger.
In contrast with previous years, this summer it was a joy to see Inter carefully picking their future players and sign them. It seemed that for the first time, Ausilio, Spalletti and Suning all had one coherent vision for Inter. Thanks to this shared vision, Inter’s coach now has much more options to choose from, unlike the past seasons.
The management now is more competent and experienced. All of them know their role and when to speak, and seem to have understood what Suning expects from them. Horrendous management errors which used to hinder Inter’s season from the start now belong to the past; such as that time when Inter removed their coach (Mancini) two weeks before the first game, or when they panicked and spent around 70 million euro on two unworthy players like Joao Mario and Gabigol.
This solidity in club management was reflected whenever Inter took to the pitch during their pre-season friendlies. The International Champions Cup is now over, with Inter registering solid wins against Lyon and Atletico Madrid, and drawing against Sarri’s Chelsea. It is evident that all players, both new and old, are ready to follow Spalletti’s orders.
To those still sceptic about Suning, this summer was also the one in which we have seen Suning’s commitment to invest in Inter, where they gave the nod to offer 10 million euro a year to Modric should he successfully leave Madrid. Simultaneously, they continued to attract further investment into the club with various new financial agreements successfully signed.
The Inter fan base is not blind, and has acknowledged all this progress by buying all the season tickets available. I cannot remember another precedent where Inter had to declare a sold-out of the season tickets campaign after reaching 38,000 ticket sold (equivalent to the whole capacity of Juventus Stadium, just to have an idea).
It is this solid foundation which Inter needs to continue building upon. After experiencing Inter’s best summer since 2009, no wonder we are all hopeful for a good season after years in the dark. And I think we have all the right reasons for doing so.
James J Piscopo is a journalist based in Malta. 27 years old, he has been following Inter for more than two decades. He writes a weekly editorial exclusively for SempreInter.com starting this week.