If you’ve followed me on Twitter for a while, you are probably aware of my ability to jinx teams and players- a fact confirmed by some of my recent columns. Last fall I wrote an article on how Napoli could become the new football hipster team , shortly afterwards, the partenopei lost striker Arkadiusz Milik to a serious knee injury and it took them months to get back on track.
 

But this gift to curse teams can also cut both ways, last December I used the movie “Bronx Tale” to illustrate the fact that Inter had squandered the potential of so many promising players  - since that column, the nerazzurri have gone on a nine game winning streak in all competition and we may finally have a worthy antagonist to Juventus in Serie A next season.
 

One of the main ingredients in Inter’s resurgence was Suning’s decision to focus on “Made in Italy”. While Stefano Pioli was by no means the sexiest name to replace Frank de Boer, he was the perfect profile for that specific point in time- Pioli had done very well taking over during the season at Bologna, and had also been able to lead Lazio to the preliminary round of the Champions League.
 

Inter’s next significant move was the signing of Roberto Gagliardini, and while there was a lot of criticism regarding the transfer fee his performances have been very convincing. The former Atalanta’s midfielder’s arrival brought order to Inter’s squad- Gagliardini has shown enough versatility that he can play with both Brozovic and Kondogbia, and his arrival allowed Pioli to move Gary Medel to the backline where he’s a very good option to rotate with Murillo as Miranda’s partner.

But aside from the performances on the pitch, Gagliardini’s signing shows some very encouraging signs for Inter’s fans. Sure it’s a gamble to invest around €25 million for a player who only has played a half a season in Serie A, but when you have Suning’s financial resources the only thing that matters is if he flops or not- they have the money to offset a mistake, and signing Gagliardini doesn’t prevent them from using resources in other areas just like signing Gabigol didn’t prevent them from signing Gagliardini.
 

The 22-year-old's excellent start at Inter will almost certainly ensure the nerazzurri’s sporting director Piero Ausilio continues to shop for Italian players. Inter has been heavily linked to Domenico Berardi and Federico Bernardeschi- should one of these very talented wingers arrive, Ausilio could look to make a massive plusvalenza on Ivan Perisic who arrived for €18 million and could be sold to a Premier League club for around 40 million next summer.

While landing Domenico Berardi is complicated by fact Juventus has a great relationship with Sassuolo, the bianconeri no longer have a formal option on the winger and they are committed to developing Marko Pjaca. Inter will also work on convincing Fiorentina to sell them Bernardeschi even though there is still some bitterness from the Salah situation, but the fact that the Tuscan club didn’t cash in on a potential Nikola Kalinic transfer to China (at least not yet) makes it more likely they would be open to moving the Italian winger.
 

On top of pursuing targets in Serie A, Inter has set their sights on the best Italian player currently abroad- Marco Verratti. In recent months, there appears to finally be an opening in regards to the midfielder leaving Paris St Germain- his agent has hinted as such in recent interviews, while in the past he only reiterated that his client would stay at Paris St Germain at least until winning the Champions League.

Assuming Verratti leaves, which is far from a given when you consider that Paris St Germain has made some significant additions in January and could replace Emery with whom Verratti clashed, Inter would have to face some very serious competition from all the top clubs abroad and likely Juventus, who however appears more focused on Lyon’s Corentin Tolisso and would likely have to sacrifice a big name to afford a player of Verratti’s worth.
 

In addition to Italian players, Inter is also using the charm of their home country to attract Ricardo Rodriguez to address their biggest area of need at the wing back position. While the Wolfsburg defender has numerous suitors in the Premier League as well as France, his preference is to join Inter also because he enjoys vacationing in Italy so much- the prospect of living there full time is enticing to him.

Certainly the wing back position is the most glaring need, but Inter is also looking for another top level centre back with Miranda turning 33 later this year. While he’s not technically “made in Italy”, Kostas Manolas has a made a name for himself at Roma and for awhile it felt inevitable that he would leave the giallorossi to play in Premier League- but now  Inter’s financial resources make them a player for the Greek defender, they are confident they can close the deal next summer.
 

Inter will get their next test against the Old Lady on February 5th at the Juventus Stadium. Assuming my column didn’t jinx them, we are going to get a sense of how much work Inter needs to put in to compete with the bianconeri next season. Considering Suning’s deep pockets and the fact that their Financial Fair Play restrictions will be eased, next summer Inter should be able to further bridge the gap- Juventus may finally have a worthy rival, and the profile of Serie A as a whole will be elevated because the nerazzurri focused on “Made in Italy”.