The Nerazzurri management has been negotiating with Perisic for a long time without getting PSV’s approval, convinced Diaby but not Al-Ittihad, abandoned Cancelo after the Portuguese player’s approval to Barcelona, and negotiated with Norton-Cuffy. No one arrived, so only the very young remain for turnover.
“Luis Henrique is an asset to the club that must be defended,” “I look at the ones I have,” “The transfer market? I can’t wait for it to end…” And then? “The transfer market is bastardly.” Chivu’s words: “It doesn’t always work out, and that’s fine with us. The club tried to do what we asked until the end, but it didn’t work out.” Cristian Chivu’s approach to the transfer market, at least publicly, changed when the winter session ended. For the first time this season, the Inter coach used slightly stronger words than usual, expressing himself in a much more direct way than in the recent past. And with good reason, one might think, because the number of Nerazzurri signings made in January speaks for itself: zero. Or rather two, to be completely honest. But that comes back to zero considering that the young Jakirovic will join the Under-23s and Massolin will remain in Modena until the end of the season.

Inter negotiated at length for Diaby, buoyed by the player’s clear desire to move to Milan; they spoke with Norton-Cuffy to be prepared for Dumfries’ possible departure; they waited for Cancelo before Barcelona made the Portuguese player a more attractive offer; they waited for PSV to be eliminated from the Champions League to sign Perisic. And then? Zero signings. For one reason or another. So there you have it, the cause of Chivu’s slight frustration after the Coppa Italia match against Torino. Understandable after dreaming of and courting four new signings and seeing them slip away one by one. The Nerazzurri coach acknowledged that the club had tried its best, taking issue more with the dynamics of the transfer market. But at the same time, some requests – literally “what we had asked for” – did exist. In the end, no new faces were seen, which is why Chivu showed some concern for the second half of the season and against Torino in the Coppa Italia he fielded two young players – Cocchi and Kamate – to give those who had played the most minutes so far a breather.

The past teaches us—  Last year, when Inter were still racing ahead on all fronts and some were even beginning to draw comparisons between Simone Inzaghi and José Mourinho, the January transfer window came to the rescue of a team that was inevitably going to finish the season physically exhausted. Signings? One, Zalewski. Who can’t be faulted: in a short time, the former Roma player immediately became important to the Nerazzurri, providing De Vrij with the assist for the decisive equalizer in the Polish player’s debut derby and guaranteeing the club a hefty capital gain just six months later. Zalewski’s energy. The “energy” Chivu needs to continue at the top this season: “We need legs, energy to manage the exertions of January and also those that will come in February.” And the reason for the coach’s concern still lies entirely in that term “energy.” Because Inter, excluding young players, has a squad of 24 players. This is ideal for getting to know each player and getting the most out of them, but less so in purely athletic terms. Chivu’s team has already played 34 games between Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League, and Supercoppa, to which, in the best-case scenario, another 27 could be added for a total of 61 games if Inter were to reach the end of all competitions. A couple of signings in the transfer market would probably have been useful to better manage the team’s energy from here to the end of the season. But despite this, the Nerazzurri remain leaders in Italy and in contention in the Champions League. “We will fight tooth and nail to continue our journey this season,” added Chivu. And so it is.