Writer Andrew Barker likes to describe Inter as “a weird artsy colony, a halfway house and an island for misfits,” which seems quite fitting in light of recent events that include Radja Nainggolan’s team-imposed suspension and Mauro Icardi being stripped of the captain’s armband. But while the club is known in Italy as Pazza Inter (“Crazy Inter”), and these episodes certainly add to this narrative, there has also been a concerted effort from the Inter’s management to become a more pragmatic organization.
Advertisement
The Nerazzurri have gone through numerous changes in recent years, starting with long-time president Massimo Moratti selling 70% of his shares to Indonesian tycoon Erick Thohir back in 2013. During Moratti’s 18-year reign, Inter acquired numerous stars including Roberto Baggio, Roberto Carlos, the Brazilian Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but while these teams were very impressive on paper, they rarely fulfilled their potential.
Thohir buying the club from Moratti was just the beginning of a series of changes that ultimately left the Chinese group Suning as the majority stake owners, with former Juventus director Beppe Marotta becoming the club’s chief executive officer in December. This change in ownership is expected to turn Inter into a club that is run much more like a business rather than one driven by sentiment and fandom, which ultimately was Massimo Moratti’s modus operandi.
In many ways, Moratti’s life revolved around Inter. His father, Angelo, had owned the club between 1955 and 1968, and, since buying the club back in 1995, he invested substantial amounts of his own personal fortune, which came from the oil business. He essentially ran the Nerazzurri like a hardcore fan would, since he had strong affection for certain players—often at the cost of undermining his own managers—while also acting like a prisoner of the moment when making decisions with long-term implications.
While winning the treble in 2010 was the coronation of Moratti’s efforts to deliver a great team to Inter fans, it came at a substantial cost, which Mourinho, who left the club right after the Champions League final, saw coming. Rather than cashing in on aging players or selling stars at the peak of their values, Moratti not only kept almost all of the team’s core players, he rewarded many of them with contracts that weren’t in line with their future performances and, as a result, the club found itself in serious trouble with Financial Fair Play for years to come.
Advertisement
Had Moratti still been in charge this season, we can envision some of the recent incidents being handled very differently—starting with Radja Nainggolan, Serie A’s most notorious bad boy. Inter recently suspended the former Roma midfielder after he showed up late for practice multiple times. In the past, the transgressions of players like Adriano and Maicon, who also enjoyed the nightlife, were never made public until after they left the club. Meanwhile, Nicolo Zaniolo, one of the players they sent to Roma in the deal to acquire Nainggolan, was becoming one of the best stories in the league.
But as bad as the issues with Nainggolan have been this season, they have essentially served as an appetizer for what has been happening with now former captain Mauro Icardi. His wife and agent, Wanda Nara has often used social media and her appearances on Italian television to publicly negotiate with the club.
Nara has posted pictures of zebras on her Instagram stories to highlight Juventus’ interest in Icardi and, more recently, used her Twitter account to attack Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy’s sports paper of record, for what she believes was unfair coverage. But it looks like she finally overplayed her hand.
Vergognoso!!!!
La Gazzetta è partner dell’Inter.
Continuare a dire queste cazzate è ancora più pericoloso.
La verità è sempre e solo una.!! pic.twitter.com/76LxkkNAa9— wan (@wandaicardi27) February 19, 2019
These tactics worked rather well before Beppe Marotta’s arrival, since she was able to get Icardi new contracts in consecutive summers, with the last one featuring an exit clause (valid only outside of Italy) for €110 million which, up until last week, looked like a bargain when you consider Icardi’s age (26) and scoring record in Serie A. But this time, Inter gave Wanda Nara a taste of her own medicine by announcing that Icardi had lost the captain’s armband on Twitter without giving them prior notice, according to Nara.
Marotta told Sky Sport Italia “it was not a disciplinary matter against the lad. But rather a change that we considered better for the team, club and Icardi himself.”
🎙️ | #FCIM pic.twitter.com/UwQ31X2N6k
— Inter (@Inter_en) February 16, 2019
When organizations want to bring real change they often start at the top. After spending eight years at Juventus, Beppe Marotta fully absorbed the Bianconeri’s mantra that no player is bigger than the club. Alex Del Piero, Gigi Buffon and Claudio Marchisio all moved on, rather than retiring with the club. Even Cristiano Ronaldo was introduced with a straight-forward press conference, rather than a glitzy presentation before screaming fans—a sharp contrast from the way Inter used to operate.
Advertisement
So far, it’s hard to argue with Marotta’s approach. Nainggolan has vowed to curb his partying ways and his performances have improved. Since Icardi lost the captain’s armband last week, Inter have won three matches in a row, with Ivan Perisic finally looking like the player we saw in the recent World Cup after a season long slump. And Lautaro Martinez is making the most of his recent starts as the central striker.
Despite all the recent drama—which reportedly also included Wanda Nara’s car being hit by a rock last Saturday—there’s still a good chance the situation gets resolved. Wanda acknowledged that she had reached out to Massimo Moratti to help resolve the matter, and that the contract extension with a raise is no longer a priority.
While all these events would spell the end of the relationship at any other club, Inter still has that “pazza” aspect in their DNA—even with a conservative new regime in charge. In this case, it can help all involved, because a striker of Icardi’s caliber is hard to come by. And he may just find himself in a much more functional island of misfits.
(Photo: Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)