Is Banega’s Inter career already over?
Mancini knew that Banega’s tempo is not what it takes to be a competitive midfielder in Serie A. In Italy, midfielders must run more and think faster than what they do in Spain where footballers have better technical skills but play at a slower tempo.
Franck De Boer had also been playing some games with the Argetinian relegated to a bench role as Inter were more balanced with Banega watching his teammates, rather than playing alongside them.
The first half of yesterday’s defeat to Napoli proved once again that Banega is struggling to come to terms with the Serie A playing style. The 28-year-old midfielder did not offer any defensive cover at the San Paolo yesterday night with Mahmadou Diawara who was left free to build the action from the back without the former Sevilla star challenging him.
Pioli inevitably replaced Banega during the half time break and probably put an end to his Inter career. The Serie A giants’ director of sport Piero Ausilio insists that Inter must sell some of their players in January and Banega could be the right one to register a capital gain given that he joined Inter as a free agent last summer and selling him at any price would allow Inter to free up some fresh cash. A January move to Jiangsu Suning can’t be excluded at the moment.
