Loan Moves: Ranocchia departs, Sainsbury joins

Most had expected Inter to not make any moves in the transfer market today but the club managed to get a lucky break. Ausilio and company had been trying to move Andrea Ranocchia during the entire January transfer window, but the Italian defender apparently rejected moves to Russia and England, preferring to find a club in Italy or just stay at Inter. It seems that Ranocchia realized that he wasn’t going to find a suitor in Serie A (and that he would get next to no playing time with Inter) and has agreed to a loan to Hull City.

Just like Ranocchia’s loan to Sampdoria, this is a straight six month loan with no option or obligation for the Premier League side to purchase the 28 year old. On the bright side Hull City will be paying all of Ranocchia’s wages so Inter won’t have to worry about that. Given the fact that the former Inter captain’s contract expires in June, this might be the last we see of the error-prone/confidence-deficient defender. [Edit: His contract actually expires in 2019, that might’ve just been wishful thinking on my part...]

If the departure of Ranocchia was surprising enough (great news but still surprising), Inter fans were greeted with the curious news that the club had suddenly signed Trent Sainsbury on loan. It quickly became apparent how this move was completed so fast considering that Sainsbury plays for Jiangsu Suning, our owners other club. This deal might have been just as beneficial for Suning as it was for Inter, if not better for the Chinese club. The Chinese Super League recently implemented rules restricting the number of foreign players that can play in a match, and this loan means that they won’t have to juggle their foreign players to keep them happy.

Sainsbury is a 25 year old center-back who can also put in a shift at right-back. I’ve never seen him play before so I don’t know if he’s at Andreolli levels or Ranocchia levels, only time will tell. I don’t expect Sainsbury to play much and I don’t think he expects to either. This is probably just a stop-gap signing for Inter in case of injuries and a convenience move for Jiangsu. Who knows, he could impress us though?