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As the protracted pursuits of Perisic and Salah have proven, Mancini wants wide attackers for his team next season. While those two have been dominating the headlines recently, a lesser known player (to non-Inter fans) has quietly slipped his way into the team. During the official squad presentation on Wednesday, there was a bit of confusion among fans watching since Jonathan Biabiany was one of the players at the event. There was no official statement from Inter regarding Biabiany until a short release today that Biabiany has signed a contract with the club.
Biabiany was signed to the Inter youth academy back in 2004 and made his senior debut in 2007. From there he was shipped out on loan to Chievo Verona, Modena, and Parma before coming back to Inter for the 10/11 season. He spent the first half of the season playing for the Nerazzurri under Benitez (ugh) scoring one goal in the FIFA Club World Cup final. That January he was sold to Sampdoria in a player+cash deal for Pazzini.
After Sampdoria he went back to Parma who ended up buying him outright. The Frenchman almost went to AC Milan in 2014 but in his medical it was discovered that he suffers from cardiac arrhythmia. This ended that move and kept him out of playing for basically the entirety of the 14/15 season. Once Parma declared bankruptcy both the player and the club decided to terminate his contract.
I have mixed feelings about this move. On one hand he is a winger (which makes Mancini happy), is very fast, and would slot well into a 433 formation. Plus since he was a free agent so Inter only has to pay his wages (which makes management happy). He knows Inter and Serie A well so there would not need to be an major transitional period for him to get used to things here.
On the other hand Biabiany is a decent but not particularly good player. Plus his heart condition makes me nervous. The medical team has given him the all-clear to start playing again but it's still a risk. He only played one game in all of last season so his fitness levels are probably not that great as well. Also considering the fact that Shaqiri and other players are being pushed out the door because the squad is too big, is Biabiany really somebody we want replacing Shaq (or even filling up one of the 25 spots on the squad)?
(He was given a four year contract so I would assume either this club is either paying him next to nothing, has a lot of faith that this move will go well, or just has a really big soft spot for former players.)
Either way Biabiany is here again so let's welcome him back to the Inter family and hope things work out!