Inter signed Lukaku from Manchester United for a club record €80m ($87m) in 2019. They won the title a year later, but then realized they were way overstretched financially (the coronavirus pandemic didn’t help) so they sent him to Chelsea for €110m, making a tidy profit along the way. He signed a massive deal at Chelsea, fell out with then-coach Thomas Tuchel and was loaned back to Inter until June.
Despite various highs and lows, Lukaku wants to stay. Inter want to keep him and Chelsea don’t want him back, except Inter can’t afford his wages and Chelsea can’t just write him off as a loss on their books. So expect a merry dance where both clubs pretend he’s returning to London this summer and then he stays put, probably with a pay cut.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
If all of this sounds like a rag-tag psychodrama … well, it is. It’s not helped by the fact that Inter went on the slide recently in the league, slipping out of the top four, ironically at a time when they were creating (but not finishing) more chances than they had in a long time. In their past four Serie A games, they got one point and scored two goals, conceding five. All this with an xG of 7.87 and an xG conceded of 2.72.
But expected goals don’t placate fans and media, and few know this better than their bedraggled manager, Simone Inzaghi, he of the hangdog face and polite mannerisms. His critics say he’s too nice and too patient, that he lacks the killer instinct of his brother, Pippo, who had a much better career despite being less talented. Right now, though, he’s probably what Inter need and having been through a more “alpha male experience” with Antonio Conte, Inzaghi makes a nice change.
– O’Hanlon: Who are the best impact subs in soccer? (E+)
Inter as a club have become accustomed to this state of the affairs. Yes, ahead might be a future terrorscape of red ink, departing stars and defaulting owners, so they live in the present. And that means competing for a top-four finish in Serie A, a Coppa Italia — they’re in the semifinals — and enjoying the fact that you’re halfway towards the final four of the UEFA Champions League. There’s even a point of pride in knowing this team was put together on the (relative) cheap, with guys — many of them written off as greedy or demotivated in the past — who are giving their all.
It’s not so bad. Heck, it’s even fun.
