Inter Prepare to Challenge Juve for Sheer Volume of Transfers

By: Martha | February 27th, 2007

Henry, gloating over James. If by some miracle all the Inter transfer rumors floating around lately turned out to be true, they’d have to build an extension onto the changing room at the San Siro. Take a gander at this list, compiled over just two days: Buffon, Henry, Villa, Nani, Moutinho, Riquelme, the pretty Ronaldo and Quaresma. Whew. That’s quite a haul, huh?

The targets that seem most legitimate, by which I mean some thought has been put into them by the press, if not by the club, are Buffon, Henry, Villa and possibly Porto’s Ricardo Quaresma (the last because he’s reportedly being eyed as a possible Figo replacement.) As far as Buffon is concerned, everyone wants him and it’s certainly logical that Inter would be after his services, despite the fact that the team’s brass like to talk about how good Julio Cesar is, and how confident they are with him between the sticks. When you can afford it, an upgrade at goalkeeper is never a bad thing.

When it comes to Henry, the possibility of his departure from Arsenal has (again) been cropping up in the press lately, though whether it’s because he’s actually thinking of leaving or just likes the attention (we know that part is true, at least) is unclear. The latest is that he’ll either go to Inter and be replaced by Samuel Eto’o, or be sent to Barca in straight swap for the Cameroonian striker. I suppose the Inter rumor makes a degree of sense, if we assume he a)gets along with Patrick Vieira, and b)has heard good things about the club from him. Whether Henry would be interested in taking the chance of leaving Arsenal and having to prove himself in another league, however, is anyone’s guess.

David Villa (”cannoneer of the Valencia“), meanwhile, seems a somewhat logical option only because a)he’s really good, and b)has a buyout clause in his contract — I guess when you’re as a big a club as Inter, €126 million FOR ONE PLAYER doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility. Plus, if Adriano goes, the team’s only regular first-team striker still under 30 will be Ibra, so it makes sense that Inter will be shopping for younger guns. Or cannoneers, rather.