Martinez Is No.1 — Here’s Why That’s Right

Inter are signing Ivan Provedel from Lazio. Fine. But buried underneath that move is a much braver decision — and it’s the one that should actually worry, or excite, Inter fans.

Quick question: when was the last time Inter trusted a goalkeeper with fewer than 40 Serie A appearances to start the season as their undisputed No.1?

If you’re struggling to remember, that’s the point. And it’s reportedly exactly what’s about to happen at San Siro — yet almost nobody is talking about it.

The Move Everyone’s Watching

Inter are closing in on Ivan Provedel from Lazio. Reports suggest both sides have an agreement in principle on personal terms, with Provedel accepting a pay cut to join the Serie A champions.

The structure: roughly three years, around €1.5m per season plus bonuses — a clear drop from his current Lazio salary of about €2m.

On the surface, that reads like a typical backup signing. Tidy, sensible, forgettable.

Look closer, though, and the structure of this deal seems to be doing more quiet work than a standard backup deal usually does. It reads less like a simple transfer and more like an insurance policy with two very different doors built into it.

The Real Story: Martinez Is the New No.1

Here’s the decision that actually matters.

Inter are believed to have settled on Josep Martinez — not Provedel, not any external name — as their starting goalkeeper for 2026-27. He joined from Genoa in 2024 and has quietly overtaken Yann Sommer in Chivu’s pecking order.

A club fighting on three fronts — Serie A, Coppa Italia, and the Champions League, the competition where Inter’s pressing system was found wanting against Arsenal and Bodo/Glimt last season — is, in effect, handing the gloves to a goalkeeper who’s barely had a sustained run as starter.

And yet, the case for Martinez writes itself once you actually think it through. He’s already in the building. He understands the league, the system, and this back three intimately — not in theory, but from training every day alongside Bastoni, Bisseck, and the rest. Every time he’s been given a chance this season, he’s delivered: a 7.5 Sofascore rating in Inter‘s Coppa Italia semi-final win over Lazio, a clean sheet against Cagliari, and a composed showing in the 2-1 win over Sassuolo. Across his two seasons in Italy, his average match rating sits around 6.95 — solidly above-average shot-stopping numbers for a goalkeeper with so few starts. And at his age, if this goes well, Inter could have their goalkeeping position settled for the next decade.

That’s not a small thing for a club that’s cycled through Handanovic, then Onana, then Sommer in recent years. Stability between the posts is underrated until you don’t have it.

The Counter-Argument — And Why It’s Not Crazy

Now, I want to be fair here, because there’s a real argument on the other side, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.

Earlier this year, Inter were reportedly considering Tottenham’s Guglielmo Vicario. Some saw the decision to move on from that as a missed opportunity — and there’s a case for that view.

Vicario brings proven Premier League pedigree under genuine pressure — something Martinez can’t yet claim. And there’s an uncomfortable truth about Serie A specifically: Italian fans have rarely trusted a young goalkeeper quickly. Inter, traditionally, have always had a veteran between the posts — Handanovic’s decade-plus reign, Sommer’s calm experience before him. In a league where one mistake gets replayed on every football show for a week, experience buys a goalkeeper the benefit of the doubt that young players don’t get.

Worth noting too: Inter paid Genoa €13.2m for Martinez in 2024, a fee that signalled genuine long-term intent even then — this was never purely a “develop and sell” signing. If Martinez has a rocky opening month as Inter’s No.1, that’s the pressure he walks into. Not just Chivu’s expectations, but decades of “Inter always has a vet in goal” instinct from the stands.

What Nobody’s Talking About: The Provedel Clause

Here’s the part of this deal I think deserves far more attention than it’s getting.

Provedel was named Serie A’s best goalkeeper for 2022-23, and recorded 11 clean sheets in 27 league appearances this season before a shoulder injury cut his campaign short. None of that screams “downgrade.” It’s depth with real pedigree.

Read the reported terms a certain way, though, and something interesting emerges — call it a reading between the lines rather than a confirmed plan. Structured like this, the deal could function as a release valve as much as a backup signing. If Martinez struggles through his first season as starter, Provedel — at 32, with Champions League starts and a Serie A title race on his CV — would be sitting right there as a low-friction promotion. And if Martinez thrives, the same contract terms would let Inter part ways with Provedel next summer without any hard feelings or wasted assets.

Maybe that’s overreading a routine signing. But if it is the plan, it’s a trapdoor built into the floor, just in case. Quiet, low-cost, very Marotta.

My Prediction — And How Chivu Should Play It

My own read: Martinez likely outperforms Sommer overall next season — sharper distribution, more comfortable under the high press Chivu demands. It probably won’t be flawless, though. A few moments — even in otherwise excellent performances — where a slight lapse in concentration or decision-making creeps in seem likely. First-season-as-No.1 jitters are normal. The concern isn’t whether they happen. It’s whether they become a pattern.

For Chivu, the plan seems fairly straightforward — and it’s the one that gives Martinez the best chance to succeed: Martinez starts from day one in Serie A and the Champions League, full stop. Provedel takes the Coppa Italia minutes and steps in if Martinez gets injured — much the same role Martinez himself reportedly played behind Sommer last season. No open competition, no rotation drama. Just a clear hierarchy, with a proven safety net underneath it.

That’s how you build a No.1. Not by handing him the job and hoping — by handing him the job and protecting him while he grows into it.

Why This Matters

Compare this to the chaos still surrounding Inter’s right wing-back search, or the unresolved Calhanoglu situation, and Inter’s goalkeeper reshuffle looks almost serene by comparison.

Don’t mistake “quiet” for “low stakes,” though. Get this right, and Inter have solved their goalkeeper position for a decade, on a fraction of the wage bill a marquee signing would have cost, with a title-winning No.2 in Ivan Provedel on standby. Get it wrong, and Provedel — not panic, not a January scramble — is the answer within twelve months.

That’s the real story of Inter’s summer goalkeeper business. Not Ivan Provedel arriving from Lazio. Not even Yann Sommer’s exit, tidy as it was. It’s that Inter Milan looked at their goalkeeper situation and chose to bet on the present rather than the safest name available — and built a soft landing underneath that bet, just in case.

While the football world watches Bastoni, Palestra, and Frattesi this summer, the most consequential long-term decision Inter have made might be the one made between the posts. Josep Martinez has earned his shot. Now it’s on him to make sure, twelve months from now, nobody’s still asking whether Inter Milan picked the right goalkeeper.

Is handing Martinez the No.1 jersey a brave, smart decision…

or should Inter have brought in a proven veteran like Vicario to share the load? 

Let us know in the comments and get the conversation started