Piotr Zielinski couldn’t have had a better first Serie A start with Inter, as had a brace from the spot against their arch-rivals Juventus. The Pole, who had gotten the nod twice in the Champions League beforehand and was deployed consistently as a sub, took advantage of the opportunity. Hakan Calhanoglu was hurt and Kristjan Asllani wasn’t 100 percent. He has occasionally starred as a ‘regista’ with Poland, but he did only briefly under Carlo Ancelotti at Napoli in Serie A.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, the Nerazzurri started working on the Bosman acquisition two summers ago. They initially thought he wished to stay put at Napoli long-term following the Scudetto. However, the Azzurri proposed a pay cut to prolong his contract, and he soured on them. He believed a top team would eventually come forward.
Inter wasted little time to make their offer: €4.5M net until 2028 and the chance of competing in Italy and Europe. The Partenopei tried to salvage the situation, backtracked, and met his request. Though, the player had already made up his mind. Moreover, he didn’t like that Aurelio De Laurentiis publicly slammed his agent.
The Pole took the medicals last February already, months before the signing was made official. The Nerazzurri paid €2M in commissions as part of the deal.
Our Take on Zielinski
He’s not tremendously consistent, but you can’t be too choosy when you are cash-strapped and have the chance to nab a super-established player for free. Fielding him as a deep-lying playmaker was serendipitous and could spell trouble for Asllani, who’s never been overly convincing. Calhanoglu isn’t off to a tremendous start either and could use a breather from time to time. Therefore, the adjustment might be here to stay.
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