Among the roles in which Inter will presumably need to intervene for the next season, one of the most likely is that of right winger. The Nerazzurri club currently has two players (excluding Tajon Buchanan, who has so far always played on the left) who, for various reasons, do not offer the right mid-term guarantees, even though it has decided to stick with the current players for this season.
The current player can today be considered Matteo Darmian, who is nearing 35 and has a contract expiring in 2025. A decision on his stay will be taken only in the coming months, but it is obvious that the former Torino player cannot be considered first choice again. Behind him is Denzel Dumfries, with the same contract expiry and a final agreement for the signature still missing. The Dutchman could even leave as a free agent in a year. And speaking of free transfers, here is Inter’s first target for the right flank.
In recent years, Inter has accustomed us to moving well in advance, and this was also the case for two of the signings who arrived in Milan in the summer, namely Piotr Zielinski and Mehdi Taremi, who were effectively signed for nothing as early as February. For this reason, the Nerazzurri scouts have been working to repeat this type of operation, but with a higher profile and in a different role: the identification is Devyne Rensch, right winger of Ajax and captain of the Netherlands Under 21.
Devyne Rensch is 21 years old and was born on January 18, 2003 in Lelystad, and has been playing for Ajax since 2018. The last extension with the Amsterdam club dates back to June 2021, when he extended by four years until June 30, 2025. His market value, according to Transfermarkt, is around 10 million euros. However, the price of the transfer, in a free transfer deal, evidently does not interest Inter much.
After his first steps in his hometown team, VV Unicum Lelystad, his career has been tied exclusively to Ajax. With the Lancieri, he completed the entire journey in the youth sector from the Under 15s, learning the dynamics and mechanisms of Dutch football, as well as refining his basic quality. An important recognition came in the 2019-20 season, when he was named the best player of the entire youth sector. Not bad, at Ajax.
His debut in the first team took place on November 28, 2020, during the Eredivisie match against Emmen on the road, when he came on at the 72nd minute. In the second half of the 2020-21 season and throughout 2021-22, he made numerous appearances, often starting from the bench. From 2022-23 onwards, Rensch firmly took a place in Ajax’s starting line-up. In total, with the first team, he has so far made 136 appearances, a huge number for a 21-year-old. Among the tokens totaled are also 5 in the Champions League and 13 in the Europa League.
With the Dutch national team, as mentioned, he boasts the captain’s armband in the Under 21s, thanks to his 14 appearances with 2 goals scored. On September 7, 2021, he also made his debut with the senior national team during the 6-1 victory over Turkey, in what remains his only appearance with the Oranje.
Analyzing Rensch’s career, the extreme versatility he demonstrated playing in Ajax’s historic and immutable 4-3-3 formation stands out. The 2001 class player covered all defensive roles, but with a preference for the right full-back position, where he played 99 times. On 19 occasions he acted as a central defender, while on other 13 occasions he changed lanes and moved to the left. Finally, he also played in midfield 3 times.
Versatility is in itself a characteristic that Simone Inzaghi likes a lot, but Rensch’s value could go beyond the multi-role function. The native of Lelystad is equipped with a great run, thanks to his young age, which would make him particularly suitable for the full-fledged external role in a 3-5-2, inevitably smoothing out some defensive gaps that are not exactly the priority in Amsterdam. Another small flaw to correct lies in impulsiveness, as at 21 years old he has already received three direct expulsions.
However, his quality and offensive propensity are two indisputable talents for Rensch and a great strength, as the numbers totaled in his career also attest: for him already 9 goals and 12 assists. This year he started every game in the journey that took Ajax to the group stage of the Europa League, overcoming three rounds,
