It may be the silly season, but look for Inter Milan to be smart

We are already knee-deep into the January transfer window and, outside of Christian Pulisic’s move to Chelsea, there have been few surprises.

Don’t fret as we still have plenty of time for craziness.

As for Inter Milan, I wouldn’t expect a whole lot from the Nerazzurri during this transfer window. In fact, I wouldn’t expect any really big splashes in January, but there could be some interesting news leading up to the summer.

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Because Beppe Marotta is still getting his feet submersed in the Inter Milan culture and the Suning Group want to meet Financial Fair Play rules this season, the Nerazzurri will likely not bring in any big names during the winter window.

That makes sense.

Now, I know we all would like to see Luca Modric sign for Inter this winter, come to the Meazza and lead Inter to the Scudetto. Yeah, not going to happen.

What I do see Inter doing during this window is setting the stage for a stronger summer.

Zeroing in players who can make an impact, but don’t all come with €50-€60 million transfer fees attached will likely be the strategy of Marotta and sporting director Piero Ausilio. Since out-of-contract players can start negotiating summer transfers with teams in January, this is where Inter will make some headlines this January.

One thing to keep in mind, and I know some in the media have already reported this, Inter will likely have to part with a big-money player to help fund a strong summer.

To me, the best option to do this is Ivan Perisic.

It’s not that I have an issue with the Croatian winger — even though his play this season has not matched last season — but he is a player that will attract attractive bids and, let’s be honest, he is replaceable.

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Some have suggested that defender Milan Skriniar is another player that could be sacrificed for Inter to make some larger signings in the summer. I think that is a bad idea.

Skriniar has been the backbone of the Inter defense — one of the best in Italy this season. He is a potential legacy player for the Nerazzurri and could wind up making a big name for himself — more so than he already has.

Allowing Joao Miranda to leave would be the better option for Marotta as Miranda is getting up in age (34) and while still solid, is just not what he used to be on the backline. The combination of Skriniar, Stefan de Vrij and Kwadwo Asamoah has produced one of the best backlines in Serie A. Toss in a healthy Sime Vrsaljko and Inter would need another quality defender on the left to allow Asamoah to move up the field and do what he is best at, making plays.

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Marcelo Brozovic has been another player potentially on the block for Inter and I don’t think it would be a bad idea for Epic Brozo to move on. Not that he doesn’t contribute or isn’t a good player, but he remains inconsistent.

Another player whose future is in question is Keita Balde. Balde, who is on loan from Monaco, wants to make the loan move to Inter permanent, but it is going to cost the Nerazzurri to keep him. He has started to find form this season and could be another great offensive asset for Luciano Spalletti next season. To do that, however, Inter is going to have to sell some players.

My thought is for Inter to have a relatively quiet January window and look to sell Perisic and Brozovic in the summer to fund some summer moves and put money back in the coffers for the club.

Of course, I could be wrong.

What do you think? Post your comments below!