First and foremost, I have been scanning the news constantly to hear about any news regarding “The Investment”. Like a mouse in a Skinner Box, the removal of everyday rewards in the form of updates on this subject have only made me click links with more and more urgency. I have now read that the deal is dead, that the deal will go through within weeks and that Moratti is trying to consider if this guy will benefit Inter. We still have no basic idea what the deal that Moratti might be considering is, but here we are.

As I have opined before, this team needs cash to build the infrastructure to thrive in the new world order. But, no sane bank would loan the money to Inter at this point considering the very public losses that it incurs every fiscal period. No one is going to give €300 million to a team for 20% of the paper if the team itself is only worth about €400 million minus any debts of losses for the fiscal period immediately after purchase. Should Moratti vet this guy to make sure that he’s on the up and up? Of course, but that should have happened before we reach this point, yes? I mean why spend time negotiating or meeting with people that already don’t fit your rules for playing in the Inter sandbox.

The news and the tabloids are all fighting about transfers. Personally I don’t care about transfers. I don’t care who is coming or going as much as whether or not there is going to be a change in the way this team does business. I wrote about this the winter that Benitez was fired that Inter needs to adopt a model that emphasizes value for money and this summer I am adding the front office to the same criteria that I judge players.

Inter, on the command of Mazzarri, just exploded the size of the technical employees. The squad is still gigantic. We are no closer now than 3 years ago to a stadium. The losses have been reduced by half at this point. While I applaud the efforts of the front office in their efforts to keep expenses down, they have not been able to get value back in income for those players or coaches they did invest.

There needs to be a change. At this very moment I think that it needs to start at Branca, because he doesn’t seem clever enough to find talent for little output and he seems content to give away young guys at whim. Having a guy in charge of player acquisition who can’t bring in talent that isn’t cherry picked by a coach and can’t keep that talent that is already on the books here seems like a bad idea. I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt a million times, because sometimes sports fans get a little too over the top against their own team, but these last few years have just been horrific.

There are more and more reports that Stankovic will be leaving Inter this summer. I thought that he needed to go that summer before Mourinho got here. He surprised me with a good season that next year. But after that, I was ready to see him go again. Deki was a good player and a positive personality for the team. For me personally, I really wish he would leave now so that my feelings for him don’t drop any more.

Late last week there was a report that Ranocchia was going to Juventus. I laughed about it. Then the report returned and I saw it in 3 different forms, one including a trade with a player who just nearly tore his hamstring right off his leg. It would take a moron of titanic proportions to sell him to a direct rival - even more so if in exchange for a player with only one attached hamstring. Then I saw the Guarin to Juventus reports. Now I just think that someone is just trying to mess with us. Hey, anyone can go at anytime, I just don’t think that I would sell anyone to Juventus – unless it’s Lucio at 34 years old…

It has gotten so bad that someone tracked Guarin down in Colombia or something to ask him about leaving Inter. Basically he said that he isn’t going anywhere. I am accepting suggestions on who will be a transfer target for Juventus next week. I am going to go with… Alfred Duncan. There you have it. This week’s made up transfer fueled nonsense will be Alfred Duncan to Juventus. Remember, it doesn’t have to make sense, it only has to make waves. Look for this headline soon…

I don’t care if Schelotto sucks, his attitude this summer has been nothing short of phenomenal. If he doesn’t make it to summer retreat, so be it. But I hope his attitude gets held up as an example for others.

Speaking of attitude, let’s hear it for the Inter Baby Defense at the U21s. In five games the five members of the entire back third of Italy’s U21 team has yet to concede a goal. All that may change with the next game, but right now, they have already entered history: Bardi, Caldirola, Donati, Biraghi and Bianchetti – who just turned 20 this March, by the way. Let us not forget that there is a sixth Inter Baby playing in this tournament that was foolishly squandered away for far less than what he was worth – and yes, I am letting my feelings show here because I have actually seen the kid play.

Speaking of Bardi, there is a rumor of his going to Cagliari to play next season, nothing concrete, though. This is too bad, because frankly, I would love to see him work in Serie A just to see what he’s got.

Parma and Inter have come to terms with 2 pieces of business. They will continue their cooperation with one player and they will go to the envelopes with another. The two players are midfielders Crisetig and Nwankwo. Crisetig will be continued to be co owned – he spent last season in Serie B. Nwankwo is a defensive type of midfielder that many might remember as a member of the Benitez Inter that I love so much.

Inter youth acquisition is hot on the trail of Victor Andrade, who is dubbed the new Neymar, by some who have no idea what the word “hyperbole” mean. He is currently a player of Brazilian team Santos but as with every Brazilian player parts of his right to play is owned by a dozen other entities and any negotiations in this field could take a long, long time. He has a €50 million transfer clause in his contract but it expires in October, which means that people could have negotiated with him – and everyone else associated with his rights – in April. This little tidbit just came over the Inter News stuff so I am guessing that the team is deep in the heart of the fight for his rights.

If one is wondering about transfers in, the biggest noise since De La basically closed up shop on Mazzarri’s former players is Dusan Basta. The 28 year old winger is sure to be expensive as it’s Udinese that we are talking about. And let’s face it, this is their Champions League. The transfer window is how they get their money for operations; the league season is just a long commercial for their shop. And they are good at it, so I have absolutely no idea why in the world we are dealing with people over whom we have no leverage. Udinese will get their money whether they deal – for an outrageous sum - with us or not. They are probably still living off the Sanchez to Barca deal. Personally, I would rather we never deal with these guys. Ever. The same goes with Catania and Lazio. It’s just too much headache. Plus, there are other options: the Argentine Peruzzi, high wages Kolarov, or 24 year old Danilo D’Ambrosio that Inter – according to rumor – have already inquired about.

FORZA INTER

PS - From this article on Inter.it:

At 18:00 on the first day of season ticket sales the results were clear, showing even stronger sales compared to the opening day for the 2012/13 season. Last year there were 93, while today – with sales outlets still operating –148 have already renewed their places at the San Siro.

The Solo Inter store on Via Berchet 1, Milan has been packed, but fans have also made use of the Pirelli flagship store on Corso Venezia 1. Online sales at vivaticket.it and inter.it have also been strong.

Inter fans have always shown passionate support, and this fact has been confirmed by season ticket renewals not just for the 2013/14 season, but also for the following one. 15% decided to take advantage of the 2-year package, with its savings of nearly 40%.