Fabrizio Biasin takes a dig at Marco Palestra

It seemed like Marco Palestra’s transfer from Atalanta to Inter was all but done, but Chelsea’s last-minute move convinced the fullback to head to London. It appears that direct contact between Xabi Alonso, the Blues’ new manager, and the fullback—who played for Cagliari last season—was the deciding factor.

Journalist and well-known Inter supporter Fabrizio Biasin took to Facebook to share his thoughts on the matter: “Losing Palestra is no small matter; he’s a player with enormous potential who would have been perfect in Chivu’s 3-5-2 formation. Many say, ‘Fifty million for a 21-year-old would have been too much, an exaggerated figure.’ Not in my opinion: there are rare cases of players worth taking a risk on, and this (in my personal view) was one of them.”

“And yet there’s a limit beyond which it doesn’t make sense to go,” Biasin continued. “English clubs can cross that limit without too much trouble (lucky them), and there’s not much you can do: you just have to hope to come across players who want you and you alone.”

“Palestra seemed like that kind of player, but at a certain point he found himself at a crossroads and changed his mind: 1—A starter on one of Serie A’s top teams, surrounded by a large group of Italian teammates, with Champions League action ahead and a 2.5 million salary 2- On the roster of a club not in the Champions League and where he’ll face stiffer competition, but in the world’s clearly richest and most famous league, with a stratospheric salary.”

“He chose option 2, and it’s a perfectly legitimate decision—one communicated with a sudden, unexpected, and hard-to-swallow about-face, but legitimate nonetheless. Unfortunately, the transfer market is also about this kind of thing, but what really matters in the end is the final result: a team that, once the transfer window closes, is stronger than the one before. We’ll see if that’s the case this time as well.”

In closing, Fabrizio Biasin threw in a dig: “P.S. Every time a top-level player, for whatever reason, doesn’t end up at Inter, I’m always very sorry. Especially for him.”