Chivu Reacts To Transfer Speculations As Inter Face More Obstacles For Cancelo

After seeing their status as Serie A table leaders threatened by AC Milan’s win yesterday, it is now time for response from former Serie A champions, Inter Milan as they’re yet to play to play their game in this week’s round of match, but a stern test await them against Bologna.

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Ahead of the clash at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium, Inter coach, Cristian Chivu spoke to the press in the usual pre-match interview where he talked about lots of issues surrounding the club, including the transfer market as we fully enter the winter transfer window for the 2025/26 season.

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The former Parma coach held the press conference on the eve of a big Serie A game against the Rossoblu, a team that has already beaten Inter on penalties just a few weeks ago, in the Supercoppa Italiana semifinal but this time around, Inter will have their supporters cheering them at the San Siro.

“We know it’s a tricky game against a team that puts everyone in trouble because they have identity and intensity. Bologna put obstacles in your way even in simple situations. They have strong wingers on inverted feet and midfielders with physicalresence.” Chivu said.

“They also know how to go man-to-man; they have legs and good timing, and determination. Even if you beat the first line of pressure, many of them track back, so we need to be careful and do some things better, with a strong sense of responsibility.”

“I like it when my players show courage and risk committing a foul to win the ball back.” Napoli coach Conte tried to put pressure on the Nerazzurri last week by saying that Inter, Milan and Juventus have better infrastructures than the defending Serie A champions, who are still far from being among Serie A’s elite clubs.

“The way I’ve always seen football, as a player and as a coach, talks and controversies are external to the game and bring nothing. They don’t affect the final result; they are useless. They have little impact except at a media level and have nothing to do with this sport, which should remain what it is.”

“Personally, I laugh when there’s too much talk about things that have nothing to do with reality; they actually make me focus even more on my work. All we can say is that, at the moment, five teams are fighting for the Scudetto and the differences are minimal.” He replied.

As expected, he was asked about the club’s transfer plans for this January with reports already rife about a couple of possible exits with some players yearning for more playing time ahead of the upcoming World Cup while the club is also considering some signings of their own.

Multiple sources claim that Inter are in talks with Al-Hilal to sign Joao Cancelo, while Stefan De Vrij and Davide Frattesi could leave this month as they look for more playing time but the Romanian coach refused to provide transfer updates on Cancelo, who already played for Inter in 2017-18.

“I talk about Luis Henrique, Diouf, Dumfries and Darmian. I prefer to focus on them and on the reality of the facts,” said the Inter boss. As for De Vrij and Frattesi, he added: “I’m not afraid of anything; I trust their professionalism; they are the first ones responsible for what happens.”

“They are two who have played the least. In Davide’s case, for physical reasons, and in Stefan’s case, for technical reasons, but they will have plenty of chances to play.” He further added and optimism is growing for the club over a potential deal for Joao Cancelo.

According to the latest reports from Italy, the gap between the two clubs has never felt smaller and Gazzetta dello Sport took it further to reveal that Cancelo’s situation at Al-Hilal has reached a breaking point and an exit is inevitable, hence it is just a matter of destination.

The Portuguese international has been left out of both domestic and continental squads and is now waiting to define his next move. Furthermore, two decisive factors are now tilting the balance in Inter’s favour and the first involves Simone Inzaghiand his ties to the Beneamata.

Last summer, Inter allowed the coach to leave on a free transfer despite having a year remaining on his contract as they could have demanded compensation, but chose not to. That decision has not been forgotten, and Inter now expect Al-Hilal to return the gesture during negotiations for Cancelo.

The second, and more complex, issue is financial as Cancelo earns around €15m net per season, a figure far beyond Inter’s wage structure and to bridge that gap, Al-Hilal are willing to cover at least 60% of his remaining salary until the end of the season, making the short-term loan possible.

Notwithstanding, the Saudi Pro league side also plan to make a separate deal of their own, by signing an Inter player to satisfy their manager by giving him some of his former players to work with especially in the defense to be able to fully implement his tactics on the team.

Consequently, Al-Hilal are monitoring Francesco Acerbi and De Vrij, but would need to free up a foreign-player slot before completing any move. Inter believe the pieces are finally aligning, and that the Cancelo operation can be wrapped up sooner rather than later.

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Despite overcoming these obstacles, tey still face one final hurdle, convincing the player to ignore other interested clubs like Barcelona and Juventus. Curiously, he has already played for all three clubs in the past plus Manchester City but his focus right now is to get more playing time in his preferred wing.

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