Some thoughts on Vlahovic:
I feel this weird sense of "communal protection" over Vlahovic. He's one of this leagues brightest jewels, if not the single most precious, and it would be tragic for Serie A to lose him, but especially to a fucking loser club like Arsenal.
Even though I have zero right to claim any "ownership" of Vlahovic, the notion of him going to Arsenal is just fucking disgusting. It borderline offends me. In the past decade, I've become so accustomed to Arsenal being the absolute definition of a banter club, and being an Inter fan, I'm somewhat of an expert in banter clubs.
I`m confident Vlahovic is NOT going to Arsenal. Not only now, but ever. On the other hand, I have a feeling he`s waiting for juBentus... That`s why Marotta is focusing on Scamacca.
On the long run: Vlahovic might see next italian club as a stepping stone, while Scamacca has lower chances to leave Serie A. Sure, we could use his services until then AND make a nice profit, so even like this I`ve been 100% for Vlahovic.
All in all, club stature aside, the single most important factor is obviously our finances. Even though I'm extremely well aware of our calamitous financial situation, I can not accept that we made a total of nearly €200m from Lukaku, Hakimi and Politano's obligation being activated, and only spent a miniscule portion of that.
I know what you mean, but it`s not just the transfer balance.
TRANSFER RECORD 18/19 (Nainggolan, Martinez, Vrsaljko, de Vrij...)
Income €86.60m
Expenditure €97.60m
Overall balance €-11.00m
TRANSFER RECORD 19/20 (Lukaku, Eriksen, Lazaro, Politano, Barella loan, Radu, Salcedo, Brazão, Agoume, Young, Godín, Sánchez loan, Sensi loan...)
Income €66.69m
Expenditure €191.72m
Overall balance €-125.03m
TRANSFER RECORD 20/21 (Hakimi, Barella, Pinamonti, Sensi, Males, Kolarov, Sánchez, Vidal, Darmian loan...)
Income €82.55m
Expenditure €120.50m
Overall balance €-37.95m
TRANSFER RECORD 21/22 (Vanheusden, Dumfries, Correa loan, Darmian, Calhanoglu, Dzeko,
Income €197.05m
Expenditure €36.00m
Overall balance +€161.05m
So if you`re looking over the years, we`re more or less balanced out.
The problem for every club was losing revenue due to the pandemic - which is unfortunately still ongoing at certain level.
Anyway. It might be expensive, but there is a golden opportunity for us to put a throttlehold on this league for the foreseeable future. Signing Vlahovic would ensure that dominance. As well-utilized as they have been, signing a 35 year old reject from Roma and a rotation player from Lazio, does not.
I feel the same, he`s destined for world class and worth the effort. If we want to make a leap in quality, he`s the guy not Dybala.
while I don`t have any credit/loans myself, I would encourage the club to take a loan or another minority investor, just to assure the funds for Vlahovic.
It`s time to consolid8 our position and Marotta is an expert on this.