Jones, the sale of Stankovic is not enough for the Nerazzurri's budget

The hypothesis of selling Aleksandar Stankovic to finance the purchase of Curtis Jones raises concrete doubts. Gazzetta dello Sport has put forward this possibility, highlighting Cristian Chivu‘s interest in the English midfielder, considering the difficulties in selling Davide Frattesi at the figures deemed appropriate. The idea stems from the recent 40 million offer from Brentford for Dejan’s son, a figure identical to Liverpool‘s asking price for their homegrown talent.

The central issue is not the available liquidity, but rather the squad cost, the key index for analyzing Inter’s transfer market. Between salary and amortization, the Englishman would weigh on the balance sheet between 11 and 12 million euros. To bring him in, an equivalent amount must be freed from the squad’s budget. Stankovic currently costs about 5.4 million, while Frattesi weighs in at 11.7: exactly the impact that the 2001-born Liverpool player would generate.

The ideal replacement, both numerically and tactically, remains Frattesi. Stankovic alone would not be enough and would require another departure in parallel. The exit of Kristjan Asllani, who costs 5.2 million, added to the Nerazzurri youth product would reach about 10.5 million: an acceptable figure but not sufficient. The combination would work in terms of numbers, but not in terms of planning.

While Asllani has long been out of the project, Stankovic has just arrived and represents a technical and corporate asset to be enhanced. The 2005-born player is proving to be worth the 13 million development bonus paid to Bruges this summer. His value is rising: already today there are those who would offer 40 million for him, a figure that Frattesi and Asllani would not reach even together.

Letting go of Stankovic to bring Jones to Chivu would be counterproductive. By instead moving the two midfielders who are out of the project, the club would lighten the squad cost by about 17 million euros: ample room to welcome the Englishman, bring in another reinforcement, and find a place for two players who have finished their cycle in Milan.