With Ilkay Gundogan currently uninterested in signing a new contract at Manchester City, the Premier League champions will have a decision to make in the summer.
Either they keep the Germany international around until his deal runs out in 2020, or they try and push him out in the coming months, recouping some of their initial expenditure in the process.
One club reportedly keen on signing the 28-year-old are Inter in Serie A, who are looking at bolstering their midfield with a big name, like Gundogan or Ivan Rakitic.
Of course, doing so won’t be cheap, and they know this, but there’s a limit to how far they will go to get their man.
Requesting ‘at least’ €9m/year, Gundogan is asking for a similar amount to what Aaron Ramsey wanted, which also ‘put the brakes’ on any move to Inter before he ended up signing for Juventus.
Giuseppe Marotta, who is in charge of all this in Milan, isn’t prepared to go too crazy on the market, even if he knows he’ll have to push a few boundaries if he wants to get top names.
He just wants to make sure the line he crosses doesn’t become a dot in the distance.
Tuttosport add to this in their Wednesday edition, claiming Piero Ausilio, Inter’s director of football, will pull off a ‘007’ and be present at Manchester City’s Champions League game against Tottenham on Wednesday night.
They also add any deal for Gundogan, taking into account his wages at the Etihad, would make him the highest paid player at Inter.
Mauro Icardi won’t like that one bit.
