Inter Milan head coach Luciano Spalletti has increased speculation that the Italian club will make an attempt to sign Wojciech Szczesny from Arsenal.
Spalletti managed the Polish international for 18 months at Roma before making the move to their Serie A rivals this summer. Speaking to Sky Sport Italia (translated by Football-Italia.net), Spalletti expressed his admiration for the 27 year old’s abilities despite also backing the club’s current number one keeper Samir Handanovic:
“We already have Samir Handanovic, who is very experienced and strong. I’ve already worked with him and I know his quality. For the moment we’ve got him. Then obviously Szczesny is a modern player, because he can use his feet and in modern football you need that to start moves from the back.
“We want to do something important this season and we have strong players in the squad, so first of all we’ll take into consideration those we’ve got and who I like.”
There are two interesting pieces to the quote above. If the translation is right, Spalletti has yet to assess his current players, and will look to do so in the coming weeks when they come back for pre-season training.
The Italian also states he has managed Handanovic before (at Udinese), so he knows the Slovenian’s qualities already, and won’t need to make an assessment of him. He says “for the moment” which could suggest that the 32 year old may not be at the club much longer.
Inter’s involvement in the race for Szczesny will come as very good news for Arsenal. Juventus are trying to lowball the Gunners with bids far off the club’s €15m (£13.2m) valuation as they feel that, with the Pole’s contract expiring next summer, a significant offer isn’t necessary. Inter and especially Spalletti’s intervention into proceedings could change things for the better.
