Last week Inter chief Beppe Marotta believes player prices will fall this summer and “there could be more swap deals” because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Beyond the dates that are still to be determined, I think it will inevitably be a poorer market so there could be more swap deals,” Marotta told Tuttosport.
“We’ll see a general drop in prices because the problem is global. It’ll be important to be able to exploit the resources of our academies.”
Interestingly, those same sentiments were said today by Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu:
“There is not going to be as much money in the transfer market this summer because of the pandemic,” Bartomeu told Diario SPORT.
“But I predict that we are going to see a lot more player exchange deals.”
If transfer fees are lower this summer, and we should expect more swap deals, what does that mean for Inter?
Inter have three big decisions to make this summer: What to do about Ivan Perisic, Mauro Icardi and Lautaro Martinez?
Perisic has been at loan at Bayern Munich all season where he made 34 appearances, scoring 9 goals and adding 7 assists. The German club are interested in making the deal permanent and Inter reportedly are interested in offering cash + Perisic for 25-year-old French midfielder Corentin Tolisso.
Tolisso is desperate to leave Bayern in the summer, according to Sky Germany journalist Max Bielefeld.
“The player is very unhappy with his current situation,” Bielefeld said and added:
“He wants to leave, and Bayern would be willing to let him go immediately. I can’t imagine that he will still be playing for FC Bayern next season.”
This looks like a deal that should happen.
Barcelona and Real Madrid have been linked with Lautaro Martinez for months. Barcelona have the ambition, but not the cash to trigger Lautaro’s release clause. They have offered Inter a lot of players in an attempt to make a deal, but none of them are in the same class as Lautaro and I cannot see this deal going through.
Real Madrid are reportedly also interested in the striker, but reports in Spain suggest their top target is Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane.
My feeling is that when the 2020/21 finally kicks off, that Lautaro Martinez will still be an Inter player.
That will not be the case for former Inter captain Mauro Icardi, who is currently on loan at PSG. Icardi’s future in Paris is in doubt, but with Edinson Cavani expected to leave on a free transfer, and Neymar expected to finally return to Barcelona, it is difficult to see why PSG would let another 20-goal scorer leave.
Flush with cash from the Neymar sale, I expect PSG to make the Neymar deal permanent and send Inter the €70m transfer fee.
In summary Icardi goes to PSG for cash, Perisic goes to Bayern as part of a swap deal for Corentin Tolisso and Lautaro Martinez stays at Inter. Do you agree or disagree?
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