For those following mCalcio for the past month or longer, you know that my primary task here is to offer thoughts on Serie A weekly betting. This week I’ve decided to do an opinion piece, also because I tipped Roma to beat Juve this past week-end, and… well things didn’t go too well for me, as we know.  

I have been dismayed this week by the news that Inter president Massimo Moratti has admitted Zlatan Ibrahimovic could leave Inter at the end of the season, should he express a desire to leave and granted a club offers enough money.

This would be a massive blow. Not just to the Nerazzurri but to Italian football in general. The Italian game has come in for quite a lot of bad press globally due to fairly poor European displays (by Serie A standards anyway) and defeat at the hands of the English sides.  In context though, Inter could have beaten Manchester United had it not been for the width of the post (they hit the woodwork twice), Juventus put in a fine display against mega-rich Chelsea, and Roma took Arsenal all the way to penalties. The rumours of Ibrahimovic leaving are all down to Inter’s Champions League showing, but in José Mourinho they have a manger who is a born winner and surely they will progress further next season.

Zlatan, simply put, is perhaps the best striker in the world. Personally, I think that he is. There are a few other candidates of course (Wayne Rooney, Fernando Torres and Thierry Henry to name a few, not to mention the Messi-ah) but a few but for me the Swedish man is the best of the bunch.  His touch and vision are sublime, he has a ferocious shot on him and he is excellent in the air – all the attributes needed to be a top centre-forward.  It would be a massive shame for the Italian game if Zlatan left the Giuseppe Meazza and I for one hope this is not the case.

The two clubs who have been sniffing around the prolific frontman are Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.  I can see the attraction of Barcelona, playing alongside players like Messsi, Henry, Xavi, Iniesta etc would be something I’m sure the 27-year-old would relish and I’ve no doubt he would make a massive impact at Camp Nou.  I’m less convinced he would be as interested in going to Madrid, especially if his reasons for leaving Inter were a poor Champions League showing. Real fared worse in the competition this year and were smashed 5-0 on aggregate by Liverpool, and although God knows what they might be capable next year (that is the unpredictability of Real these days), the Merengues are hardly the side they were a few years ago and it will take more than Zlatan for them to regain that kind of form.

Moratti is quoted as saying: “Maybe Ibrahimovic leaves for somewhere else and then Inter win the Champions League. In life sometimes you make a change and then regret it.”

This could well be true, but without Zlatan I wouldn’t go putting a soccer bet on Inter lifting the trophy next season.  Hopefully a Scudetto will be enough to satisfy the striker’s appetite for silverware this season, and he will again line-up with Inter in the black and blue shirt next season, when they compete again in UEFA’s top European competition. The “Cup with the Big Ears” has great appeal indeed but one thing is sure: Italian football will lose one of its greatest imports (and indeed players) if the Swedish hit-man decides to trade Serie A for La Liga.

Tags: Inter Milan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Posted in Inter, Transfer News & Rumours |

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at 6:26 pm and is filed under Inter, Transfer News & Rumours. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.