John Stones set to join Inter as a deal for Cristian Romero looks impossible to complete

Inter Milan have been on the search for a defender for majority of the mercato. There squad has very little holes coming off a season were they managed to win their 21st Scudetto. But, Cristian Chivu still wants to improve the team and get younger to continue their success. This mean’t major turnover in Inter’s defence.

This saw Stefan De Vrij, Francesco Acerbi and Mateo Darmian all left the club as free agents. Inter had a need to sign one defender this summer, which led to bring in John Stones. Stones was a free agent this summer and agreed on a two year deal to join the Nerazzurri. This is despite interest from the Premier League which would have paid more.

But, Stones preferred a move to Serie A which led to him taking only four million per year to join Inter Milan, according to Gianluca Di Marzio. Stones is now expected in Milan on Thursday to complete his medical before signing his contract. Inter don’t plan on signing only one defender as they are trying to sign Cristain Romero from Tottenham.

Cristian Romero of Argentina celebrates during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Semi Final match between England and Argentina at Atlanta Stadium on July 15,…

But, this deal is now looking hard as Inter don’t want to negotiate for less than 50 million euros according to Nico Schira. Inter wanted to sign Romero on a loan to buy worth, 40-45 million maximum. The Nerazzurri wanted to leverage the fact that Romero wanted to move back to Serie A this summer to complete a deal, but that looks unlikely now.

Inter will now be forced to look elsewhere to sign a new centre-back as the answers could be right under their nose. Benjamin Pavard has been training at Inter after pre-season after coming back on loan at Marseille. Reports have suggested that he could be sold this summer, but if he proves himself during pre-season to Cristian Chivu he could be the anwsers to Inter’s problems.