What is this “Lukaku operation” involving Marcus Thuram? Beppe Marotta may have found an ideal solution for next year’s Inter team
Thuram e “l’operazione Lukaku”: Marotta ha già trovato la soluzione (Foto: Ansa) – serieanews.com
There are stories that seem custom-written for Beppe Marotta’s Inter. One of these is the whirlwind of strikers that has seen the face of the Nerazzurri attack change in recent years.
It all started in 2021, when Romelu Lukaku was sold to Chelsea for 115 million euros, a deal that was controversial but brought Inter Milan’s coffers a significant nest egg.
The Belgian, however, is replaced with a shot of the usual: Edin Dzeko, who arrived from Roma at no cost to the club. The Bosnian repaid the trust with a season-high 17 goals, but that year Inter failed to repeat the Scudetto, lost in a tight duel with AC Milan.
Two years later, in the summer of 2023, another passing of the baton: Dzeko leaves Inter Milan on a zero-parameter basis, signing with Fenerbahce, and Marcus Thuram arrives in his place, also without any outlay for the card.
This time, however, the blow proved decisive: with the Frenchman, Inter won the Scudetto and gained its second star, thanks to a modern and versatile striker, capable of scoring, assisting and dialoguing to perfection with Lautaro Martinez. And the latest feat was just yesterday, when he opened the scoring in the victory over Feyenoord that mortgaged the Champions League quarterfinals.
But fairy tales in soccer always have a price. And Thuram’s, today, is between 70 and 100 million. A figure that could sway Inter, especially considering that it would be a total capital gain, fresh money to put the accounts back in order and perhaps strengthen the squad with new graft.
Major European clubs, from the Premier League to La Liga, have already made some inquiries, and the feeling is that in the summer the Frenchman could be at the center of one of the hottest deals on the market.
Jonathan David, la soluzione già pronta per il dopo Thuram
When it comes to excellent disposals at Inter, the question arises: who would replace him? And this is where Marotta’s strategy, a master of selling well and buying even better, comes into play. This time the plan seems already written: Inter has set its sights on Jonathan David, Lille’s Canadian striker, who will be free at the end of the season on a zero-parameter basis.
Jonathan David, la soluzione già pronta per il dopo Thuram (AnsaFoto) – serieanews.com
The difference from 2021 is stark: back then, Lukaku’s backup was an already 35-year-old Dzeko; now we are talking about a player from 2000, in the midst of his growth and ready for consecration.
David is quick, technical, capable of playing both first and second striker and is having another star season in Ligue 1. To get him without paying for the tag would be a real coup, both from a sporting and financial point of view.
The problem? It will not be an easy negotiation. When a young and prolific striker finds himself free on the market, competition becomes fierce. Premier League clubs, Spaniards and even some Bundesliga bigwigs have already started to move. Inter Milan starts ahead because of contacts that have been initiated for some time, but it will have to be convincing to close the deal.
If Inter really succeeded in getting David without paying for the tag, Thuram’s disposal would be much less painful. Cashing in between 70 and 100 million and replacing him with a younger, equally promising talent would be a textbook coup in the vein of Marotta’s best operations.
It would not even be the first time Inter has made such an operation. In the past, the Nerazzurri have already shown that they can handle heavy disposals without losing competitiveness: just think of the goodbyes of Hakimi, Lukaku, Onana and Brozovic, all of whom were replaced with targeted grafts and teams that, paradoxically, improved compared to the past.
This article Thuram and “Operation Lukaku”: Marotta has already found the solution appeared in its original version first on SerieANews.
