Soccer
Inter Milan Transfer Rumors: Paulo Dybala and Henrikh Mkhitaryan Could Be Heading to the San Siro
Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sports7 in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.
Get to know Tim Crean betterUpdated05 Jun 2022
Inter Milan was the dominant Italian soccer club in the early 2000s but fell on hard times in the last decade. In the last two seasons, though, Internazionale has started turning things around, winning a Serie A title in 2021 and finishing a close second this season. To keep this up, the team needs to bring in even more talent this summer. This is why transfer rumors of Paulo Dybala and Henrikh Mkhitaryan coming to the San Siro are fascinating.
Inter Milan has been on the rise for the last two seasons
Since 2010, Internazionale has played second (or third, or fourth, or ninth in 2012-13) fiddle to rivals AC Milan and Juventus in Italy's Serie A. Ownership uncertainty and mismanagement doomed the decorated club to a decade. This put the club behind not just Juve and Milan, but teams like Napoli and Roma as well.
Inter Milan righted the ship during the 2020-21 season and won its 19th Italian League title.
This past season, Inter lost quite a few components from that Serie A-winning side. Former Italy, Juventus, and Chelsea manager Antonio Conte left and ended up in the Premier League with Tottenham. Leading scorer Romelu Lukaku went back to England as well with Chelsea. And young right-back Achraf Hakimi left as well for Paris-Saint Germain.
Replacing these significant losses in 2021 were manager Simone Inzaghi from Lazio, 35-year-old striker Edin Džeko from Roma, and 24-year-old full-back Denzel Dumfries from PSV Eindhoven.
The 21-22 side retained plenty of stars from the prior season's championship-winning roster. Holdovers included goalkeeper Samir Handanović, defenders Stefan de Vrij, Matteo Darmian, and Milan Škriniar, midfielders Ivan Perišić and Arturo Vidal, and forwards Alexis Sánchez and Lautaro Martínez.
This squad represented well but didn't reach the heights of the previous year's team. Inter Milan won its eighth Coppa Italia trophy, finished second in Serie A, two points behind AC Milan, and made the Round of 16 in Champions League, ultimately losing to finalist Liverpool.
Now, heading into the 2022-23 campaign, Inter Milan needs to keep the momentum going. Adding a mix of big-name veterans and promising young stars has worked in the past two seasons. And it looks like the club will keep that up moving forward.
Two big-name stars could be on their way to Inter Milan
European football insider Fabrizio Romano is reporting two big-name transfer rumors for Inter Milan this summer. If the connected reporter is correct, Juventus' Paulo Dybala and Roma's Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be wearing the black and blue of Internazionale next season.
The Argentine Dybala was once the next great offensive prospect in Europe. However, at 28 now, he's never been fully able to find his footing with the team in Torino. The center-forward did have a bounce-back season in 21-22, netting 15 goals and six assists.
Romano reports, “Inter vice president Javier Zanetti had direct talks with Paulo Dybala before and after Argentina's game vs Italy in London. Inter have been working on Dybala deal for many weeks.”
Another transfer rumor is that Roma's 33-year-old veteran attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be heading to Italy as well. The former Manchester United player has been key to Jose Mourinho's Roma re-build, but Romano reports he wants to play in Champions League next year.
Romano also tweets that this is no longer a transfer rumor but a done deal, writing, “Deal completed, medical tests and official statement pending. Here we go.”
Bringing in Dybala and Mkhitaryan this summer would be good business for Inter Milan, especially if it loses a few time-tested vets when the next transfer window opens on Friday, June 10, 2022.
Who could be leaving the San Siro?
When a team like Inter Milan brings in several highly-paid players in a given transfer window, it usually means a few well-compensated stars will be on their way out as well.
If the transfer rumors about Paulo Dybala and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are true, Inter Milan is likely looking to get rid of a few players to make room. There are two primary candidates for these outgoing contracts.
The first transfer rumor is that Alexis Sánchez could be a contract casualty this offseason. The Chilean winger makes $9.6 million a season and has another year left on his deal. According to Mercato insider Ekrem Kour, Galatasaray in Turkey and Sevilla in Spain are both interested in the 33-year-old's services.
Sánchez's countryman, 35-year-old midfielder Arturo Vidal is also the subject of transfer rumors this summer. The former Juventus, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona hard man is reportedly headed to Flamengo in Brazil. Vidal's $8.9 million contract ends on June 30, 2022.
Stats courtesy of Transfermrkt and contract figures courtesy of Capology.
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