With more than a dozen hours left until the transfer window closes, the suspense drags on until the last minute.
The front page of the newspaper "The Team" pointed out that the boss of the Grand Paris chaebol had personally arrived in Italy to prepare for the final offensive for Skriniar.
Inter Milan is also preparing for this "final negotiation" on Shike (if the winter window is not negotiated, the summer window free transfer does not need to be discussed), Marotta has been sitting at the Hilton Hotel to ensure that the relevant procedures can be completed as soon as possible after the negotiation.
A few months ago, the Parisian boss visited the city of Milan in order to facilitate the Shik deal. At that time, Inter thought that the renewal of Shik was a matter of hand, and treated the local tyrants with a more arrogant attitude, which made Nasser very unhappy and lost his temper for a while.
Now, the mentality of the two teams will be completely different from that time, what will happen this time? Watch the show, you won't have to wait long.
The story off the pitch is heartwarming, but Inter's devil's fixture schedule continues.
The winter window will obviously have a big impact on Inter's preparations for the next two vicious matches, but fortunately, the two opponents who are about to face are in a similar situation.
Inter's cup rivals Atalanta also have players mired in rumours of a whistle-blowing transfer, such as Demiral, one of the possible replacements for Shike.
Inter's next league rivals, AC Milan, are also fretting over Leo's new contract.
Last season, the Rossoneri won the championship with a team construction cost (salary + transfer amortization) 100 million lower than Inter, winning worldwide praise, but immediately, AC Milan had to face a bigger problem - how to send players who are eager to improve their treatment and "reward for merit" after winning the championship. This is much more difficult than fighting strong opponents on the field, and it is the main reason for the current decline in the record of the Rossoneri.
Although the details are different, AC Milan and Inter's current predicament is similar: Serie A's deteriorating revenue capacity makes the Serie A giants' budgets far inferior to Europe's top chaebols, and teams must make cost control a top priority, which contradicts the player's extreme desire for "chicken legs". Against the backdrop of intensified labor-management conflicts, things like Donnarumma, Kathy or Shkriniar are not isolated and will continue to play out.
The family has a scripture that is difficult to read. Inter are about to face Atalanta and AC Milan, and now it is not only the ability and form of the teams to compare, but also who can not be distracted by the wind and rain off the field.
Or focus on football itself.
In the Coppa Italia, Inter were the absolute favourites a few weeks ago as defending champions and "cup-type coaches". But now, Inter have fallen to third on the popular list, with 4.5 odds of winning the title, inferior to Roma and Juventus, and the popularity is declining.
Why are the evaluation agencies lowering their expectations for Inter?
On the one hand, the reason is the existence of the "Half of the Dead Zone".
In the eight quarterfinals of the Italian Cup, Inter, Atalanta, Juve, and Lazio are all in the top half, and whoever wants to advance to the final will face a series of hard battles, and suspensions, injuries and other battle losses are almost inevitable. Roma, on the other hand, are much more comfortable in the bottom half, with teams such as Cremonese, Fiorentina and Turin bringing less pressure. Once Roma reach the final, it is not surprising that with Jose Mourinho's experience in the final, Roma are widely bullished.
On the other hand, the Italian media believe that Inter's commitment to the Serie Cup this season may be different from last season.
Last season, Inzaghi Jr., who had just coached Inter, urgently needed to establish prestige and invested heavily in the cup, except for a rotation in the 1/8 final, he made every effort from the 1/4 final, and went all the way to Roma, AC Milan and Juventus to win the title.
Winning trophies is of course a good thing, but the resulting attrition and battle losses have a certain impact on the results of the middle and late stages of the Inter League, the so-called "gain must be lost".
Will Inter still be like this season? Many Italian media believe that Inzaghi Jr. will still fight for the cup, but not "at any cost". The commitment may be lower than that of Juventus – the Bianconeri's attitude towards the cup has changed dramatically since the Bianconeri penalty.
Sky, for example, believes that with Atalanta in midweek, Inzaghi Jr. may consider helping Dzeko, DiMarko and Mkhitaryan and others to reduce the burden, which was not possible last season.
In fact, this is also a helpless move.
In the process of reducing costs, Inter's thickness has dropped more than last season - for example, the departure of Sanchez, Vidal and others who won the cup last season is a signal.
It has reached the final stage of the cup, and you can win the last four games well, so the fans' requirements are also very simple: the pressure of the league fourth and the Champions League is very high, and the rotation of the cup organization can be understood, as long as the players who play give their all, it is enough.