Italy have had plenty of promising young midfielders breaking through in recent years, and that paid dividends in Euro 2020 as the likes of Manuel Locatelli, Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Pellegrini all came of age to lead them to glory.
It was inevitable that some of their players would be linked with a big transfer after the tournament, but Inter Milan have already lost Achraf Hakimi so they shouldn’t be in any hurry to lose Barella.
It appears there has been some talk of interest from both Man United and Liverpool, but Fabrizio Romano has taken to Twitter to confirm there’s no chance of that happening this summer:
There’s nothing going on between Manchester United or Liverpool with Inter to sign Nicoló Barella. He’s not for sale this summer – Inter consider Barella ‘untouchable’ despite rumours. ??? #LFC #MUFC
The club have the same position also on Romelu Lukaku as of today. ?? #CFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 14, 2021
The links to both sides do make sense as he’s an elegant midfielder who can pick a pass, he’s got a great engine on him and he’s capable of thumping one in from distance, while United may need to replace Paul Pogba and Liverpool need to find someone to take over from Gini Wijnaldum so you could easily see him slotting into either midfield.
It’s likely that the Hakimi departure has taken any pressure away from Inter to sell so it would take a stupid offer to even tempt them into selling, and that means he’s unlikely to go anywhere.