Following Juventus’ decline in the last two years, Inter Milan have stepped into that vacuum as Italian football’s top dog and will be looking to further widen the gap between them and the chasing pack.
Although Inter narrowly lost the Serie A title to bitter rivals AC Milan last season, the Nerazzurri have still won three of the available six domestic trophies in the last two seasons, a trend they hope to continue in 2022/23.
Review of Inter Milan's 2021/22 season
Having lost the core of the Scudetto-winning team from the previous season, Inter Milan had enough excuse to not compete in 2021/22 but they somehow managed to.
Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan arguably looked better than Antonio Conte’s from the previous season but they ultimately failed to retain their league crown.
However, they won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa to continue the influx of silverware and make up for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 exit at the hands of Liverpool.
State of affairs
Inter Milan have sort of become known for signing smartly in recent times, a tradition they have continued this summer with some clever additions to the squad based on needs and not just luxury.
They have massively strengthened the squad that came two points short of a domestic treble last season with the additions of Andre Onana, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Romelu Lukaku amongst others.
Inter have also done a good job of holding on to their key players so far with Ivan Perisic the only real loss from last season having left as a free agent to join Tottenham, the Nerazzurri are in pretty good shape.
Transfers: Ins & Outs
Goalkeeper Andre Onana and midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan were both signed as free agents, while Raoul Bellanova, Kristjan Asllani and Romelu Lukaku all joined on loan from Cagliari, Empoli and Chelsea respectively.
Inter have only spent €23.6 million so far and it was to turn Joaquin Correa’s loan move from Lazio into a permanent one.
So far, the major departures from the first team include Arturo Vidal, Ivan Perisic, Andrea Ranocchia and Matias Vecino all of whom left the club as free agents.
Big question: Can Inter compete in Europe?
As good as they have become domestically in the last two seasons, Inter Milan still have not been able to make an impact in the UEFA Champions League.
The last time they played a Champions League semi-final was the season they won it all in 2010, their last quarter-final appearance was the year after that.
It is an abysmal record at the highest level for such a big club which they will be hoping to correct in 2022/23 while still maintaining their domestic competitiveness.
What would constitute a good season?
As much as they’d love to give the UEFA Champions League a real go next season, Inter remains unlikely to win it so their priorities will ultimately remain domestic for now.
The first order of business would be to reclaim the Scudetto from their city rivals AC Milan and then a successful defence of both the Copa Italia and Supercoppa would make the fans happy.