English media are claiming that Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Manchester United are eager to snap up Nicolò Barella, but in Italy they are confident he’ll renew with Inter.
The flurry of reports over the last few days seem to have been fuelled by a suggestion in L’Interista that contract talks had slowed down.
However, his current deal runs to June 2026 and the Nerazzurri are in absolutely no rush to get a deal done imminently.
They have other players who are closer to the expiry date and are focusing on them first, although talks with Barella’s agent have already started in November.
La Gazzetta dello Sport, FCInterNews and others are all confident Barella is a pillar of the squad going forward and has no intention of leaving San Siro.
The idea of an exit in January 2024 has a probability close to zero, while the summer could depend on the overall financial situation at Inter.
Even if the club was to miss its repayment to Oaktree in April 2024, Inter would not go bankrupt – it would be repossessed by the American fund, who in turn would not be eager to sell one of their prized assets.
Barella currently earns €5m net plus bonuses, so would likely be bumped up to €6m plus extras to sign until 2028.