Market Roundup - The End is Nigh

The transfer window comes to a close on Friday, August 31st. While much of Inter's transfer dealings have been completed, there is still work to be done. In true Serie A fashion, wheeling and dealing will continue to the last second before midnight this Friday, to the very moment when the window slams close on the summer transfer market. Last season, that window closed firmly on our fingers, leaving a recurring wound that took until this summer to properly heal. This summer, things are looking much better but we wont know that Inter has escaped unscathed until the clock strikes twelve.

First, how about a little recap on Inter's market movings to date:

News today, though, is that Maicon and Julio Cesar have finally made deals with Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers, respectively.

Julio Cesar and Maicon, two of my very favorite players. This one is going to hurt.

Lets do Maicon first. Word is that he and Manchester City have come to terms. Unfortunately, Man City and Inter have not. Inter are unwilling to let Maicon go for less than 8 million euro, while City have offered 4.5 million. In the end, 6 million may close the deal. Personally, I think that would be highway robbery but no one asks me. Even so, Moratti doesn't seem to be in the mood to give any discounts. He said in an interview today that Maicon could stay and we will have to see. Or that could just be a negotiating tactic. I hate this time of year.

I wont say much about Julio Cesar, largely because I cant. The very thought of him actually not playing for Inter any more makes me go all wobbly inside. Plus, I just will not accept that he is as stinky as many are saying and I dont really want to argue about it. We will just have to agree to disagree because nothing will convince me that he is not practically perfect in every way. The rumor today is that he has come to terms with Queens Park Rangers - a club that finished one point above the drop last season. I guess the fact that they play in London and are willing to pay JC 2.5 million euro (at least I think the figure is in euros) a season is all that matters. Things were going hot and heavy for a while with Tottenham but they collapsed over Julio Cesar's wage demands. Inter and QPR have yet to come to terms, but everyone wants this to happen. JC wants a bit of a severance deal (about 3 million euro) while I dont think QPR can afford anything for his card. Monetarily, this will be a wash, I think. And it makes me sad.

The one positive side of these deals is that, if they go through, I would finally have a reason to watch the EPL occasionally.

Who will be our Vice Milito?

The Mysterious Man of Mystery

The one missing piece of the puzzle seems to be striker - specifically, a vice Milito. For some reason, Inter and point-men always seem to come down to the transfer season wire. Whoever it is, what do you be the papers are filled at 11:55pm Friday night? The names that have been swirling around this position this week are Gilardino, Floccari, and, to my extreme horror, Borriello.

Gilardino seems unlikely one, because Strama reportedly doesn't want him, and two, because Genoa want Countinho and Alvarez in return. Inter, quite rightly, said not bloody likely and that was the end of that. Borriello doesn't really bear thinking about but, as Juve didn't pick up his loan last season and Zeman doesn't want him at Roma, papers are speculating that he could be a cheap last minute grab (which is why one shouldn't wait until the last minute to make this sort of decision). There isn't much traction around Floccari either. Word is he is much closer to Bologna.

Most recently, Lisandro Lopez of Lyon came up, but that seems far fetched. Lopez is Lyon's captain, he is injured (out for a couple weeks at least) and he seems to be a key player for the club. I dont see him coming to Inter to be anyone's vice.

Giovani dos Santos is still unsettled at Tottenham and, according to his agent, Inter are in the mix there as well. I had always heard that dos Santos only wanted a Spanish club, though, so he may not be all that interested in Inter.

But what about all these players?

I dont know if anyone else has noticed, but the squad list on the Inter web page is bursting at the seams. Even with Maicon and JC leaving and there are 32 players on the first team right now. Alright, lets say 31 - Mariga is long-term injured so he really doesn't count. So, deleting the new guys and the ones who are clearly not going anywhere (like Zanetti and Cambiasso), that leaves us with a relatively short list of players who still may be loaned out:

Defenders: Mbaye, Juan Jesus, Bianchetti

Midfielders: Obi, Benassi, Duncan, Romanò

Forwards: Livaja

Walter Gargano was presented today. He gave the usual presser where (surprise) it came out that he supported Inter as a child:

"It was the right time to come here, this is a dream move for me. I've supported Inter ever since I was a boy and I immediately felt at home here. My team-mates have made me feel very welcome - it's as if I've been here for years. How did I start supporting Inter? It started when I was a young boy, playing on the Playstation - I always used to choose Inter. And now I hope to play here for a long time."

Do you suppose their agents tell them what to say? Because I swear, these things are scripted. I just want Walter to know that he doesn't have to invent childhood affiliations to get us to accept him. He just has to play well.

Welcome aboard, Gargano. Officially.

via www.inter.it