Inter Maintain Interest in Al-Ittihad Speedster

Moussa Diaby was one of the most concrete January targets for Inter, but they didn’t convince Al-Ittihad and the Saudi Pro League officials to let go of the player. The interest was reciprocated by the winger, but the talks never went too far.

According to Corriere dello Sport, the Nerazzurri will make another attempt in the summer. Their long-gestured idea of switching from 3-5-2 to 3-4-2-1, at least occasionally, has never gone away. It has been further fueled by their last few performances in the UEFA Champions League. They had dipped well before exiting against Bodo/Glimt. The makeup of the other contenders, for instance, Bayern Munich and PSG, which can count on several technical and pacey attackers, only added to their belief.

Diaby is keen on joining Inter and returning to Europe in general, but coming to terms with Al-Ittihad will be the challenging part. They paid €60M to acquire him from Aston Villa in July of 2024. He has registered 3 goals and 13 assists in 33 appearances this campaign.

The addition of a speedster wouldn’t necessarily come at the expense of Marcus Thuram, although his future is slightly uncertain after an underwhelming campaign.

Our Take on Inter and Diaby

They have been thinking about the switch for years, but never really had the guts to go through with it. With Denzel Dumfries now healthy, they can try it with Luis Henrique in a more attacking role. Perhaps he’d work better there, given his defensive problems. Unlike in past windows, they have so many balls in the air in the midfield that they can change course with just a couple of moves. They could have certainly used some creativity and unpredictability in some instances.