The transfer season is in full swing and clubs are vying all over Europe to get the best players. Inter Milan, one of the most successful clubs in Europe is once again looking to buy the best players under the stewardship of Italian coach Roberto Mancini.
Over the years the Nerazzurri have signed some of the best players to play in Europe. So without much further ado let us take a look at the 5 greatest signings made by the Italian club. The players that feature in the list include names who changed the face of how Inter played when they first arrived at the club and helped the team achieve the biggest prizes in Italian and European football.
5) Ivan Cordoba
One of Inter’s greatest ever players was centre-back Ivan Cordoba. The Colombian was signed from Argentine club San Lorenzo in the year 2000 for a fee of €16 million and it was reported that at the time Real Madrid were also interested in his services.
Despite being short in stature,he was commanding in the air, with pace to burn and had a great standing tackle. Ivan Zamorano, the former Chilean and Real Madrid striker as quoted by Four Four Two described him as the fastest defender that he had ever faced saying “Cordoba was the fastest defender I ever played with. It was impossible for an attacker to get past him. He is also great in the air, despite not being a tall player. Cordoba has a strong character too – a real South American mentality”.
Cordoba made 435 appearances for the club over a hugely successful 12-year spell which included 5 Serie A titles, 4 Coppa Italia titles, 4 Suppercoppa Italiana titles, 1 UEFA Champions League title and a Club World Cup. In the most successful era for Inter Milan, he formed a solid defensive partnership at the heart of the defence with Marco Materazzi.
Signed when he was a relatively unknown player, Cordoba went on to become one of the legends to have played for the Italian club of all time. He symbolised hard work, commitment, loyalty and was a great servant of the Italian club.
4) Diego Milito
While many great strikers have graced the legendary blue and black jersey of the Nerazzurri like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Christian Vieri and Ronaldo De Lima, no one has made the kind of impact in a single season like Diego Milito. In his debut season at the San Siro, he helped Inter achieve the impossible treble under Jose Mourinho.
Signed in 2009 from Genoa for €28 million as a 29-year-old, he made 128 appearances for the club scoring 62 goals. The transfer at that time raised a few eyebrows but no one was doubting him after the end of 2009-10 season in which Internazionale became one of only four teams to have won the treble.
Diego Milito scored the two goals in the Champions League final that helped Inter win 2-0 against Bayern Munich,was the top scorer in Serie A that season, in the process helping Inter win another Scudetto and also scored the only goal in the Coppa Italia final against Roma.
Along with team success, individual accolades followed as he was named the European footballer of the year by UEFA as well as being named as the Serie A footballer of the year. In his praise after the treble success the Guardian wrote “Vision, timing, flawless technique and sangfroid – these two goals had everything a great striker needs, plus a sense of lyricism in the fluency of his movement. The 30-year-old Milito is hardly a fancy striker, not a Messi taking your breath away with a trick or a Tevez galvanising the stadium with elemental force, but his economy has been just as devastating.”
No player in his debut season has achieved as much as Milito did and his contributions for Inter in the 2009-10 season will forever be etched in the hearts of Inter fans and certainly, the unknown striker from Genoa proved himself to be one of the greatest Inter signings of all time.
3) Esteban Cambiasso
If ever there was a player who symbolised the great Inter side of the last decade, it was Esteban Matias Cambiasso. Signed from Real Madrid in 2004 on a free transfer by Inter Milan, Cambiasso went on to make over 500 appearances for the club over a 10-year spell.
Sitting in the heart of midfield, Cambiasso was a brilliant anchorman who was known to be quicker than anybody else to react to situations on the field. His positional awareness and game reading capabilities were second to none. He was one of the main reasons for Inter winning five consecutive Serie A titles.
While other stars to have played for the Nerazzurri might have had more talent than him, his hard work and determination to succeed was what made him stand out among the rest.
When initially signed, he had to compete for a place with another legend at San Siro, Edgar Davids but his work rate ensured that he was ahead in the pecking order. In the upcoming years, he proved himself to be one of the greatest centre defensive midfielders.
In tribute to the Bald Argentine, as he was affectionately known Goal.com said, "All in all, this player is one of the greatest players to have ever pulled an Inter shirt on and to grace the pitch in the Serie A. He is an intelligent midfielder, who has the capacity to change the shape of a game off his own boot. He is one of the most influential midfielders in Italian football, and for that reason and many more, he will certainly be remembered as one of the most talented players of all time."
2) Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez the Spanish Playmaker was one of the most important signings in the history of Internazionale FC. He was bought from Barcelona in 1961 for 250 million Italian Lire (£142,000) which was a world record fee at the time and had already won the Ballon D’Or the year before. The move saw him follow his mentor Helenio Herrera who became the coach of the Italian club after leaving Barcelona.
When he arrived in Milan from Barcelona he was already a well established inside forward who was known for his dribbling skills and excellent ball control but it was at Inter that he truly lived up to his potential as a deep lying playmaker in the great La Grande Inter team of the 1960s that won 3 consecutive Serie A titles, two intercontinental cups and two European cups. According to experts, the great La Grande Inter team would never have been formed if it were not for Luis Suarez.
The Spaniard made over 325 appearances for the Nerazzurri scoring 55 goals in the process. During his years at Inter, he was at the peak of his powers winning the European Championships for Spain as well as winning the silver ball in 1961 and 1964 and the bronze ball in 1965. Put simply, there were very few players who had the type of impact on the Italian club like Suarez did when he arrived from Catalunya.
His performance in the 1963 final against a Real Madrid side which had reached 7 of the previous 9 European finals was nothing short of genius helping the Italian club win 3-1. His arrival changed the fortunes of the Italian club and since then it has been counted as one of the superclubs in Europe.
Despite many of the Inter fans never being able to see him play, his achievements and impact on the club have definitely confirmed him as a club legend and one of Inter’s most important signings of all time.
1) Javier Zanetti
When people think of Inter Milan, one name that always comes to every football fan’s mind is Javier Adelmar Zanetti. The Argentine is truly one of the greatest ever players to have played the beautiful game and certainly the greatest ever player to have worn the legendary blue and black jersey. Signed from Banfield in 1995 Zanetti played a record 858 matches for Inter Milan over a 19-year spell, of which 15 he spent wearing the captain’s armband.
Arriving as a shy teenager from Argentina, Zanetti would go on to become the captain of the Nerazzurri’s most successful era in their history. The Argentinean led the club to 15 trophies: five Scudettos, four Coppa Italia, four Supercoppa Italias (2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010), the UEFA Cup in 1998 and the 2010 Champions League.
That 2010 triumph, when Diego Milito’s double gave Inter a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich, was Zanetti’s 700th match for Inter. He marked the occasion by becoming the first captain to win the treble with an Italian team.
When asked about Zanetti’s enthusiasm and professionalism even at the age of 35 Mourinho replied, “It’s an honour to coach him”.
Inter owner Massimo Moratti paid tribute to Zanetti after he broke Guiseppe Bergomi’s appearance record for the club: “He is a wonderful person, an equally wonderful athlete and I am happy he is so loved, because he deserves it.”
Most players forge a reputation through the brilliance of their football, but “El Capitano”, as he was affectionately known, was different. Zanetti’s stature was not formed by the things he did, but how he did them and how long he did them for. When Zanetti retired from football in 2014 Inter retired the number 4 jersey in homage of the legendary Argentine and made him the club’s vice president, which was the least they could do to repay for his contributions to the club.
To all the Inter fans he will always be remebered as the Capitano who led them to the historic treble in 2010, the captain of the ship.
