Inter paid Alexis Sanchez to leave only a year ago, yet they are bringing him back with Joaquin Correa joining Olympique Marseille on loan with option to buy, so could still technically end up with a small profit.
The Nerazzurri have been searching for a striker all summer and one of their main targets, Arsenal benchwarmer Folarin Balogun, is this evening on the verge of a €45m move to AS Monaco.
Their finances are tight this summer and the money saved by Lazar Samardzic’s failed move from Udinese was instead invested in signing Benjamin Pavard from Bayern Munich at €30m including bonuses.
Meanwhile, eyebrows have been raised with news that Alexis Sanchez is returning to San Siro, just a year after Inter paid him to terminate his contract early by mutual consent just to get his salary off the books.
He is back as a free agent after a season with Olympique Marseille, who in turn will replace the Chilean with another Inter player, signing Correa on loan for €2m with an option to buy for a further €10m that will become an obligation if the French side qualify for the Champions League.
Calcio e Finanza have calculated the impact these transfers will have on the Inter books.
Correa was purchased from Lazio for €32.5m in 2021 and as of June 2023 his presence at Inter is worth circa €16.9m.
As this is a loan, Inter will still cover the amortisation, but earn €2m for the loan and will not have to pay the €6.5m gross salary.
According to reports, Sanchez is going to earn €3m per season net wages on a short-term contract and as he was only in Italy a year ago, will not be able to make the most of the Growth Decree discount on his salary.
That means it will cost Inter €5.55m gross.
Nonetheless, these transfers will still give Inter a positive effect of just under €3m for this season, as it would’ve cost €14.6m to keep Correa going to €12m for this swap.
If Marseille activate the option to buy next summer, then they will make a profit of €1.5m on the entire Correa experience at San Siro.