The market is finally closed and anyone who is coming or going has come and gone. Now that we have our roster finalized, we can also start thinking about that all-important Champions League list.
(admit it, now you sort of want some salami, dont you)
Lets get on with it...
MARKET FIRST
Out:
- Davide Suazo - Genoa (loan with an option to buy)
- Amantino Mancini - Milan (loan with an option to buy for 4 million)
- Patrick Vieira - Manchester City (contract terminated)
There has also been some movement in the youth sector:
- Andrea Mei (defender) has returned from loan to Crotone and has been loaned Lumezzane
- Attila Filkor (midfielder) has returned from loan to Sassuolo and has been loaned to Gallipoli
- Juri Toppan (defender) has returned from loan to Villacidro and has been loaned to Catania
- Luca Stocchi (keeper) loaned to Piacenza
- Giuseppe Angarano (striker) co-ownership with Piacenza
Plus there are some other odds and ends:
- Daminuta went from Modena to Dinamo Bucarest
- Luis Jimenez went from West Ham to Parma (see below)
So, unless Milan pick up Mancini's ticket, we dont make a dime this market. Actually given how much we paid for him in the first place (waaaaay too much), we will take a bath on Mancini no matter what.
Mancini takes his huge forehead across town to Little Rio.
IN
- Goran Pandev - Free agent
- MacDonald Mariga - Parma
From what I have been able to gather, Inter has bought half of Mariga's contract (Parma will hold the other half) for 5 million Euro plus either half or all of Biabiany, who has been on loan to Parma this season. In addition, Parma get Luis Jimenez on loan for the rest of the season. I guess he failed to prove himself at West Ham.
Mariga has signed a four year contract and will wear #17. It is rumored that he may even be available to play Wednesday in the Coppa Italia game.
It seems the new guy is already acquainted with his new captain.
After all the talk about Ledesma, Simplicio and Jankulovski, in the end it turned out to be just that, talk. Word is that Jankulovski turned the move to Inter down - for which I will always be grateful. I have seen him play and I sort of think that Muntari is a better option for leftback. I think Simplicio was a last-minute sort of thing and there was just no time to hammer out the details(strangely, although I read he already had a deal with Roma, that seems to have been nixed as well).
As for Ledesma, he is really out in the cold after this. From what I have been reading, it seems Lotito wanted 10 million and an undetermined youth player. I think Inter's final (publicized) offer was 8.5 million and a youth player - not to be Krhin or Stevonovic because they both refused the transfer. Lotito declined, Branca walked, and we have a lovely Kenyan. Lotito retains the services of Ledesma - who I am sure is quite talented. Unfortunately, with the way things are going, he wont get to see the pitch any time soon and taking this long off from playing has just got to be detrimental to his career. What makes it worse is that Ledesma apparently truly had his heart set on joining Inter - so much so that he refused a move to Genoa. Poor guy.
Oh, and as an aside, remember that Finnish kid, Henri Toivomaki, who had a tryout with the youth team? Well I guess he didn't work out because he is now playing for Atalanta.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Inter has submitted their list for the next round of the Champions League. There are some surprising faces on the list:
List A:
Goalkeepers: Toldo; Julio Cesar; Orlandoni;
Defenders: Cordoba; Zanetti; Lucio; Maicon; Materazzi; Samuel; Chivu; Santon.
Midfielders: Stankovic; Quaresma; Thiago Motta; Sneijder; Muntari; Mariga; Cambiasso; Obi; Esposito.
Forwards: Eto'o; Milito; Pandev; Balotelli; Arnautovic.
List B: Krhin (midfielder); Caldirola (defender), Destro (forward), Belec (keeper), Tremolada (midfielder)
As you can see, both the new guys are on the list (although Pandev has slotted in so seamlessly it feels like he has been with us all season), as is Arnautovic and Chivu. I think the Chivu thing may be a bit of wishful thinking, but it sure would be nice to see him back this season.
Well, I guess that is it for today. Come back tomorrow for the Coppa preview!
FORZA INTER
Meet Mariga's mother. Hopefully she will be just as excited about Inter as she was about Manchester City: