According to Sport Witness via Monday’s print edition of Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport, Inter Milan have identified an exchange between Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek as a ‘dream’ deal.
Corriere dello Sport report that Antonio Conte’s side are interested in an audacious loan swap with Manchester United involving the creative midfielders in the January transfer window.
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The deal, which would be so difficult to pull off that it’s been described by Corriere dello Sport as a ‘fantasy football’ kind of move, would see both trade places on loan deals until the end of the season.
It’s added that the Red Devils have high hopes for Van de Beek in the future, despite the Dutchman’s troubled start since arriving this summer, so would not consider a permanent exit for the ace.
Van de Beek was signed for an initial fee of £35m from Ajax this summer, with the deal also including a further £5m in potential add-ons, as per BBC Sport.
The Netherlands international has started just eight of his 19 appearances across all competitions, with just two outings from the get-go from his 10 appearances in the Premier League.
Van de Beek has shown some promise in a couple of these displays, but with many of his league outings being for around 20 minutes or less, that really isn’t enough time to make his case as a starter.
Unfortunately, the Dutchman’s style just doesn’t fit in with the way Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s setting the team up right now.
There’s just no space for another playmaker like Van de Beek in a side that is led in the final third by Bruno Fernandes, especially as Fred and Scott McTominay are the prime central midfield partnership, with the duo in place to offer up protection to a defence that has looked shaky in the past.
On the Eriksen front, Inter sealed the nightmare ending to the Dane’s time at Tottenham by recruiting the star for for a fee of £16.9m in January, as per BBC Sport.
The attacking midfielder’s high-profile transfer has proved to be a nightmare though, Eriksen has now fallen out of favour, with Inter seemingly hoping to offload the star in January.
Eriksen started just 11 of his 26 appearances after heading to the San Siro last season, with this term looking to end up in the same manner with five starts from 12 outings.
Eriksen, who tore up the Premier League for years with Spurs after starring at Ajax like Van de Beek, just doesn’t seem to fit Conte’s tactical style.
The star is also quite a high-profile and likely big earning player to simply be used as an alternative option, which is perhaps why Inter want Eriksen to depart at the mid-season point.
Corriere dello Sport add that Inter have been interested in Van de Beek since his days at Ajax.
Both sides sit second in their domestic leagues and firmly within touching distance of establishing themselves as very serious contenders for the titles, a swap like this could offer the sides exactly the kind of player they need to push forward in the second-half of the season.