The choice to promote Josep Martinez after parting ways with Yann Sommer wasn’t necessarily unanimous at Inter during the summer, especially in the early going, but it had a very prominent sponsor, the Oaktree fund, Gianluca Di Marzio reports (via Tribuna).
The front office was keen on bringing in a new starting-caliber shot-stopper and blocked Guglielmo Vicario for a few weeks. Then the owners examined the situation and mandated sticking with the Spaniard mainly because of the €12M investment to acquire him from Genoa a couple of years ago.
The Inter brass and Christian Chivu complied and elevated Martinez, targeting Ivan Provedel to have a dependable deputy. The former had another poor display versus Udinese following his blunder against Real Madrid. The coach staunchly protected him, saying that he’d defend him until death. He likely would have had the day off if he weren’t under fire.
Vicario ultimately joined Juventus on an initial loan after they missed out on Alisson, Emiliano Martinez, who moved to Chelsea for €7.5M very late in the window, and Zion Suzuki.
While the Nerazzurri have been as explosive as ever offensively, they have already conceded six goals in the first four Serie A fixtures, plus two in their lone continental bout.
Our Take on Inter and Martinez
It’s a sensible stance that underlines how strict and financially careful their governors are, but the disbursement wasn’t so large as to necessarily back them into a corner, especially in a seminal role. They could have easily sold him to a smaller or foreign side for comparable numbers. The decision, which ultimately boiled down to keeping him as a starter or cutting bait altogether, was at least in part technical.
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