Inter Transfer Market: Watch Out—Milan Is Also After the Rising Star Who Has Coach Mancini Dreaming
Inter Transfer News: A Nerazzurri deal involving a highly promising player could turn into yet another big derby against Milan. Both Milan clubs are reportedly on the trail of Luca Reggiani, a center back born in 2008 who has already impressed while playing for Borussia Dortmund—so much so that he made his senior national team debut during Silvio Baldini’s brief stint as interim coach of the Azzurri. His profile, moreover, is likely to remain on Roberto Mancini’s radar as well, as he’s always keen to field a competitive Italian national team—in part thanks to young talent. The Rossoneri, however, are reportedly trying to pull off a nasty surprise for their cousins.
Inter had had Reggiani’s name on their radar for weeks, believing they had all the time in the world to finalize the deal. A strategy that could prove to be a dramatic miscalculation—at least according to rumors that Borussia Dortmund itself has even offered him to Milan. Ruben Amorim is, after all, renowned for his excellent work with young players and has long expressed a desire to add a central defender to his roster who is skilled with the ball at his feet and capable of launching counterattacks when needed. These are qualities possessed by the very young player from Emilia, who could represent just the latest chapter in an endless saga of back-and-forth maneuvering between Inter and their eternal city rivals.
Reggiani’s debut with the senior national team came in the June friendlies against Luxembourg and Greece, which Baldini had organized as a showcase for emerging talents in Italian soccer. In that experimental squad—with an average age of just over twenty and Gianluigi Donnarumma as the sole veteran to serve as a mentor—the young Borussia Dortmund center back managed to catch the eye of the scouts in the stands, confirming the expectations of those who had been following him for some time. It was a convincing performance that inevitably fueled interest from top Serie A clubs.
Now that Roberto Mancini has officially taken the reins of the national team, flanked by a top-tier staff that includes Alberto Bollini as assistant coach and Leonardo Bonucci among the technical staff, Reggiani’s name is bound to remain at the top of the list of young players being monitored most closely. The Jesi-born coach, who has already demonstrated in the past his ability to develop emerging talent, has inherited from Baldini an experimental roster full of promising prospects and is unlikely to give up closely following the evolution of the defender from Emilia, regardless of which jersey he wears next club season.
On the Milan front, meanwhile, the transfer market has already seen significant activity in recent hours. The Rossoneri have loaned Christopher Nkunku to Leipzig for a fee, freeing up significant financial resources—approximately 10 million euros in gross salary—that could be reinvested in deals such as the one for Reggiani. Amorim had already left the Frenchman off the bench for the league opener against Torino, an unmistakable sign that the Portuguese coach is shaping the roster according to specific criteria, favoring young, versatile players who fit his system of play.
At Inter, however, transfer market attention currently appears focused elsewhere. The Nerazzurri are trying to sell Luis Henrique to Roma to finance a potential signing in attack, with Cristian Chivu having his sights set on Liverpool’s Federico Chiesa. This situation may have temporarily diverted the Nerazzurri management’s attention away from the Reggiani deal, giving Milan the window of opportunity it needs to accelerate its negotiations with Borussia Dortmund and try to close the deal before their city rivals can make a decisive move again.
