Inter Is Forced To Rely On Academy Players After Recent Crisis In Their Backline

Written By Onyeka Daniel

It is proving to be a trying time for former Serie A champions, Inter Milan as they deal with on-field and off-the-field issues while also trying to navigate through the targets of the 2025-26 season and the club has now gone down a less traveled route as they prepare to face Fiorentina today.

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While they’re still trying to come to terms with their recent defeat at the hands of reigning Serie A champions, Napoli plus the controversy surrounding the match, there is a new concern for the club as they’re dealing with an unorthodox absentee in their backline.

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Spanish goalkeeper, Josep Martinez is expected to take the week off training with Inter after being involved in a fatal road traffic collision that resulted in the death of an 81-year-old in a wheelchair on Tuesday morning and the club responded in the an expected manner immediately after the tragic incident.

At around 9.40 am local time on Tuesday morning, the Inter second-choice goalkeeper was involved in a road traffic collision that resulted in the death of an 81-year-old man in an electric wheelchair. The wheelchair user, named as Paolo Saibene, was pronounced dead at the scene.

This is despite the prompt arrival of ambulances and an air ambulance and the former Genoa shot-stopper stopped immediately and attempted to administer first aid according to reports immediately after the incident but to no avail as the victim died on the spot.

Inter, who are due to take on Fiorentina in Serie A decided to cancel head coach Cristian Chivu’s pre-match press conference as a result of the incident. According to reports from Gazzetta dello Sport, representatives from the club will contact Saibene’s family in the coming hours to express their condolences.

Martinez, meanwhile, was forced to comply with all legal obligations. He was reportedly taken to a local police station, was subjected to drug and alcohol tests, and was accompanied by the club’s lawyer and according to the report, he returned home at around 18.00 local time.

After that, a psychologist appointed by the club was already waiting for him and his teammates have already reached out to express their support, but it is expected that the Spaniard will not return to the club until next week, leaving the team a bit short in the goalkeeper area.

Consequently, Chivu has been forced to call up two young goalkeepers from the youth teams for the visit of La Viola to the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium as Yann Sommer is currently the only senior stopper available for selection because Inter are without both of their two reserve goalkeepers.

Raffaele Di Gennaro is recovering from a fractured wrist and is expected to be unavailable for several more weeks and Martinez is out of the squad on compassionate grounds. The Spaniard is not expected to return to Nerazzurri training until next week at the earliest.

With both back-up goalkeepers unavailable, Chivu has had to call up 20-year-old goalkeeper Alessandro Calligaris, who has been included in the last two Serie A squads following the injury to Di Gennaro. Calligaris is otherwise the first-choice goalkeeper for the U23 squad in Serie C.

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There is also a call-up for 18-year-old Albania youth international Alain Taho, who is usually based with the Inter Primavera side. This will be his first call-up to the senior side but he’s expected to return to his usual set-up after today as Martinez should be available for the away trip to Hellas Verona.

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