Derby della Madonnina

Milan was arguably the other protagonist of the Italian summer transfer window, given the amount of money they'd amass if every outgoing player became permanent and the amount of players they acquired. Meanwhile, Inter did few operations, with Bonny and Luiz Henrique already covered some weeks ago.

Inter: Quality Over Quantity

Inter completed their incoming business by acquiring Manuel Akanji from Manchester City and Andy Diouf from Lens. These are two very different movements.

Akanji is a 1995-born centerback who comes for around €17 million if made permanent and had a long list of injuries in the 2024/25 season. His profile has been one of a very good defender, not an incredible passer, for Manchester City in his last couple of seasons. I'd expect him to be just that, but the amount of money for his age is not something I like for Inter.

Andy Diouf is a 2003 midfielder who, in his words, is most of all an offensive midfielder. His numbers are quite good both on the offensive side and in the defensive one, as you can see in the radar below. He defines himself as a box-to-box, and his most impressive skill is carrying the ball. Indeed, he's a unique profile in Inter's midfield and he's quite impressively built – 187cm for around 80kg.

For the more than €20 million Inter paid for him, I think he's already a pretty good acquisition that could become an impressive one after he continues his growth as a footballer. He and Sucic represent Inter's future in midfield and two very good pickups.

Milan: The Transfer Window Protagonists

Milan instead had quite a window, with a lot of moves both incoming and outgoing. I already said I didn't like the move for Ricci given the amount of midfielders they had, but now it seems a better one given Jashari's injury and having loaned or sold Bennacer, Pobega, Adli, and Bondo. Though it didn’t end there.

Milan acquired Modrić, who is still a great player, but of course it's hard to see him play a lot of minutes and for a lot of games. It has to be understood where he'll play consistently – if it'll be in front of the backline or more as an attacking midfielder for the same reasons.

Jashari would've probably made Ricci the substitute regista, also creating a hard choice between him and Modrić. But with his tibia fractured in training, he'll need to be reevaluated in the future. His profile was really good at €40 million too – he had the numbers to back that up more or less in every aspect of his game.

Then Rabiot got back with his favorite manager in the world to play some sort of shadow striker role in midfield. Hard to say it's not worth it for €10 million when you literally play all the games and put up some end product, but I'm not a fan if that decision shapes your whole midfield and you already have Loftus-Cheek with similar functions. Milan certainly have a lot of options between all the new names plus Fofana and Loftus-Cheek, will be interesting to see how they evolve, probably not a lot of fun when they play.

For the defense, Milan got centerback Odogu from Wolfsburg for whom I have no data to support the decision. Plus, I don't really know him, but he seems to be talented enough to be paid €10 million and is 19 – think of it whatever you want.

Milan also got Athekame from Young Boys for around €10 million – again. He's a 2004 right wingback and I have no data, but fortunately for me, The Transfer Flow guys did say something about him.

Then they got De Winter from Genoa, who seems like a warm body quite far from justifying the amount of money they spent to bring him in, even after considering he played for Genoa.

And then injury-prone left wingback Pervis Estupiñán for another €20 million. He's going to be 28 in January, had quite an extensive injury record, and had a worse 2024/25 than his 2023/24. So I think Milan could probably find a better way to substitute Theo, but also, he comes from the Premier League, so if he stays healthy will probably be really good in Italy. I think I’m somewhat on board here.

Then their long search for a striker ended with another injury-prone player: Christopher Nkunku. Let's be fair – I was excited for Openda to Juventus, but if possible, I'm even more excited for Nkunku to Milan. I think he can be one of the best players in Serie A if his body allows him to, and therefore the €42 million is a gamble, but one that could really pay off. Let's see what happens in Milan.

The Verdict

Inter played it safe with targeted additions given the success their squad had in the last years – Diouf for the future, Akanji for experience. Milan went all-in with rebuilding and took massive injury risks on Estupiñán, and Nkunku. If everything goes to plan, they could have assembled something special.