Inter’s technical advisor Walter Sabatini is expected to return from China imminently, with Ramires, Alessandro Bastoni and Amato Ciciretti being considered for January.
The Nerazzurri are sitting top of Serie A, but there are still gaps in the squad, with only three centre-backs.
While that is somewhat ameliorated by not being in European competition, it’s still thought the club will look to invest in January, and Sabatini flew out to China this week to meet owners Suning Group.
Inter’s technical advisor Walter Sabatini is expected to return from China imminently, with Ramires, Alessandro Bastoni and Amato Ciciretti being considered for January.
The Nerazzurri are sitting top of Serie A, but there are still gaps in the squad, with only three centre-backs.
While that is somewhat ameliorated by not being in European competition, it’s still thought the club will look to invest in January, and Sabatini flew out to China this week to meet owners Suning Group.
According to this morning’s Gazzetta dello Sport, there are already plans in place but everything must be done with Financial Fair Play in mind.
The Beneamata must bring in around €60-70m by June 30 to avoid sanctions, which they hope to achieve with new sponsorship, player sales and possibly by putting a portion of Champions League revenues into this year’s budget.
The top four in Serie A will all go directly to the group stage of next year’s competition, so the club could put that into the budget for this season once they’re sure of qualification.
As a result, there will be no big investments in the winter transfer window, but that doesn’t mean Inter won’t try to improve Luciano Spalletti’s squad.
The Nerazzurri bought Atalanta’s Alessandro Bastoni in the summer, but sent him back to Bergamo on loan for two seasons.
However, Gazzetta believes the Orobici are willing to allow him to go to San Siro early.
While the defender is only 18, he would act as backup to Andrea Ranocchia, Milan Skriniar and Miranda; with Zinho Vanheusden out with a cruciate ligament injury.
The second possible transfer is a loan deal for Ramires, who is currently owned by Jiangsu Suning.
The Chinese league season is currently on a break, so the Brazilian could arrive in January to bolster the squad for the second half of the season.
Both clubs are owned by Suning, so negotiations shouldn’t be a problem, but Gazzetta believes there’s a sticking point over how much of Ramires’ €10m wages will be paid by Inter.
The owners don’t want to deprive their Chinese club of a key player for the start of the Super League season, but the Nerazzurri paying could breach FFP.
Joao Mario could be used in an exchange deal, having hardly played this season, but Manchester United rejected an advance for Henrikh Mkhitaryan which would have involved the Portuguese.
Paris Saint-Germain are thought to be keen on him, so could use Javier Pastore in a swap deal, but that’s more likely for the summer.
Instead, the final possibility being weighed-up is Benevento attacking midfielder Amato Ciciretti.
His contract is expiring at the end of the season, so the Nerazzurri could take him for a cut price in January, then sell him on in the summer for a profit.
This is similar to what they did with Gianluca Caprari, buying the midfielder from Pescara for €6m, before selling him to Sampdoria for €15m.