‍ Inter, so many market misses! Lookman, Modrić, Bremer: XI

Inter are sensationally left empty-handed and lose Marco Palestra, just when everyone — inside and outside the Nerazzurri world — thought the deal was done. But when the Premier League steps in, there’s little anyone can do, and so in just a few hours Chelsea snatched the wide man away from the Italian champions, reaching an agreement with Atalanta and with Palestra.

A big blow for Inter and all their fans, who over the years have sadly become “used to” seeing deals that looked all but done on paper collapse at the very last moment.

Some moves fell through for financial reasons, others — like in this case — because of competition from clubs with greater financial power. From Lookman to Palestra, via João Cancelo and Bremer, the Nerazzurri have often found themselves just one step away from their target, without being able to get the deal over the line.

😞 Always the Premier League! And Cancelo…

If the long-running saga involving Lookman had taken on the shape of a soap opera, the one concerning Palestra seemed instead to be heading smoothly toward a done deal, only to then surprise everyone with an unexpected ending. 

As we were saying, Premier League competition has already thrown a wrench into the Nerazzurri’s plans. In fact, Inter had already had a taste of it a year ago in their attempt to sign Giovanni Leoni, who then ended up at Liverpool.

Then in January, it was João Cancelo’s turn, courted for a long time and then “lost” to Barcelona. A decision that brought back memories of what happened in 2018, when the Portuguese seemed destined to stay with the Nerazzurri after his loan spell from Valencia. However, the Spanish club’s high asking price for a permanent transfer opened the door for Juventus, who managed to bring him to Turin.

😳 A year ago Koné and Lookman

Juventus themselves have often been at the heart of transfer-market twists involving Inter. Among the most significant cases is Bremer: the Brazilian defender was one of the Nerazzurri’s main targets, but in the end he was bought by Juve, backed by greater financial resources. One of the most debated failed moves also remains the proposed swap between Vučinić and Guarín, which this time collapsed because of strong protests from the Nerazzurri fans.

There has been no shortage of dramatic twists over the years either. Among them is Lookman, pursued all summer but kept in Bergamo and then sold to Atletico Madrid, and Manu Koné, who a year ago seemed like a future signing but is still at Roma even now.

A different story concerns Luka Modrić: in the summer of 2018, the Croatian was heavily linked with Inter, but Real Madrid kept hold of him because, quoting Florentino Perez himself, “Inter wanted him for free, something never seen before.”

Transfermarkt summed it all up by putting together a lineup made up of all the recent disappointments from Inter’s transfer market and even added the coach, Cesc Fabregas. He too was the big dream for the bench after Inzaghi’s departure, but he turned it down, preferring to stay at Como.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.