Inter Milan found a treasure! Signed a striker supernova for 23 million euros, who will succeed Thuram in the future

I still remember that when the Serie A transfer window closed this season, although the Inter Milan fan circle was not full of grief, there was still a lot of pessimism and disappointment. Not only was the coach Inzaghi replaced by "rookie" coach Chivu, but also because of the club's operation in the transfer market, fans could not see hope. In the summer window, Inter Milan only spent a total of 88 million euros to sign five new players, Bony, Luis Enrique, Andy Diouf, Sucic and Zalewski, and loaned Akanji from Manchester City. The largest investment was to sign Chivu's old club Bony from Parma for 23 million euros. Compared with Naples, Juventus and AC Milan's aggressive signings in the transfer market, Inter Milan's small efforts are really a bit ineffective. Unexpectedly, just two months later, Inter Milan fans began to cheer for Boni, the 21-year-old striker, who is even expected to succeed Thuram in the future.

Inter Milan was only 1 point behind Napoli in Serie A last season and missed the Serie A championship. The main reason was the lack of substitutes on the front line. The three substitute forwards Anautovic, Taremi and Correa only played 63 times throughout the season, contributing 7 goals and 6 assists. Not only did they contribute little, but more importantly, their attendance rate was low, which greatly increased the burden on the two main forwards Lautaro and Thuram. Perhaps as long as these three substitute forwards compete a little bit, Inter Milan will have a great chance to defend the Serie A championship. Therefore, after the end of last season, Inter Milan made increasing the thickness of the forward lineup the top priority of the transfer window, and decided to send away all three veterans, Arnautovic, Correa and Taremi, leaving none. Among them, Arnautovic and Correa left the team when their contracts expired, and Taremi transferred to Olympiakos for a mere 2 million euros.

In terms of signings, Inter Milan took back last season's Italian Serie B top scorer Pio Esposito from Spezia, and rejected transfer and loan requests from many teams, keeping Pio in the team. In addition, Inter Milan also finalized Boni's transfer early and signed the 21-year-old French forward from Parma for 23 million euros. This deal was not initially optimistic, and some fans even thought it was a gift from Inter Milan management to Chivu, because Boni was Chivu's favorite player when he coached Parma. As Parma's main forward, Boni played 38 times in Parma last season, only contributed 6 goals and 4 assists, and is worth only 20 million euros.

Originally, Inter Milan wanted to sign Lookman from Atlanta for about 50 million euros to form a five-man forward configuration. However, because Atlanta insisted on not selling Lookman to Inter Milan, the deal was not completed in the end, resulting in a three-loss situation for Inter Milan, Atlanta and Lookman. Because too much time was wasted on Lookman, Inter Milan ultimately did not sign any other forwards and had to start the new season with a four-forward lineup.

Among the four forwards, Lautaro and Thuram are the absolute main force in the front line. If there are no injuries, both of them will be the team's iron starter. Pio Esposito came from Inter Milan's youth training. He is Inter Milan's own child and was the top scorer in Serie B last season. He is deeply loved by Inter Milan fans and is also a new star that Inter Milan focuses on cultivating this season. His worth and status are higher than Boni. Boni, who had just arrived, could only serve as the team's fourth forward to look for opportunities. In the three warm-up matches at the beginning of the season, Boni got the chance to play. In Inter Milan's 2-1 victory over Monaco, he relied on his personal ability to score a goal after successfully stealing the ball.

In the first round of Serie A, Inter Milan faced Turin at home. Lautaro and Thuram started. Pio Esposito did not enter the squad due to injury, and Boni became the only forward on the bench. Inter Milan established the victory early in this game. After Thuram scored twice, he was replaced by Chivu in the 67th minute and Boni came on as a substitute. Five minutes after Boni came on the field, Lautaro sent a cross. Boni adjusted his right foot after getting the ball, half-turned and shot a low ball, scoring his first goal since joining Inter Milan. It was the first time for Inter Milan to score in an official game. Boni's Inter Milan career had a perfect start.

From the second to fifth rounds of Serie A and two Champions League games, Boni got opportunities to play, but all of them came as a substitute. The minimum playing time was only 1 minute, and the maximum was only 26 minutes. Boni did not achieve anything. During this period, Pio Esposito, who returned from injury, also played consecutively, starting two of the games. The minimum playing time as a substitute also exceeded 23 minutes, and he scored in Inter Milan's 2-0 away win over Cagliari in the fifth round. At this stage, Pio Esposito's status in Chivu's mind obviously surpassed that of Boni.

But opportunities always leave to those who are prepared. In the sixth round of Serie A, Inter Milan faced Cremonese at home. Thuram was absent due to injury, and Boni replaced him in the starting lineup. This was also his first starting opportunity in Inter Milan. In just 6 minutes of the opening, Boni assisted Lautaro to score and received his first assist in Inter Milan; in the 38th minute, Dimarco passed the ball and Boni scored with a header, gaining his second league goal in Inter Milan; in the 55th minute, Boni reciprocated and assisted Dimarco to score; in the 57th minute, Boni performed a hat trick of assists, and his pass helped Varela expand the score to 4-0. In the 61st minute, Chivu replaced Boni with Pio Esposito, allowing him to accept the cheers of the fans. Boni had 1 shot and 3 passes in this game, becoming the first Inter Milan player to participate in four goals in his league debut in the past 10 years. After the game, Boni was undoubtedly elected as the best player of the game and was selected into the best team of Serie A this round..

It can be said that with the perfect performance in this game, Boni has completely established a foothold in Inter Milan. This season, Boni has played in all 6 league games, 2 Champions League games and 8 official games of Inter Milan. The number of appearances has even exceeded the two main players Lautaro and Thuram. In only one starting appearance, he handed over offensive data of 2 goals and 3 assists. His performance can be said to have exceeded expectations. Inter Milan signed this new striker for only 23 million euros, which can be said to be a treasure. Now Boni's worth has risen to 23 million euros. Considering his 21-year-old age, it is entirely possible that he will replace Thuram in the future and become the main striker of Inter Milan. Coupled with the 20-year-old Pio Esposito, does it remind people of Adriano and Martins in the past?

Note: The picture comes from the Internet.

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