Inter Milan Transfers: Top 5 Replacements for Maicon

Brazilian full-back Maicon will leave Inter Milan for Chelsea this summer, according to Football Italia. 

Marco Branca, Inter's technical director, all but confirmed the right-back's departure from the Nerazzurri earlier this week (via Soccernet): "Is Maicon leaving? This will take a while, so we won't have any more news on this today."

Here are the top five replacements for Maicon.

5. Atsuto Uchida, Schalke, Age: 24

Atsuto Uchida is a lively right-back, who's always looking to get forward. Like Yuto Nagatomo, his problem isn't winning back possession, it's getting caught out of position. 

This was evident in a 2-0 defeat to Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund, when he inexplicably allowed Mario Götze room to dribble. However, when Uchida did mark Götze tightly, the Japanese international had no answer for Marcel Schmelzer's overlapping runs.

Uchida is blessed with endurance, which partly explains why he consistently gets into advantageous positions, but he isn't productive in attack.

When Marco Höger was given a chance at right-back, he accumulated three assists in nine starts, whilst Uchida registered two assists over the entire season.

That being said, when Uchida is on form, he's a handful. The Hamburg players can attest to that statement after a 3-1 loss, in which Uchida completed six tackles and ran the show from right-back.

4. Carlos Martínez, Real Sociedad, Age: 26

Carlos Martínez possesses world-class ball-winning ability, with an average of 3.2 tackles and 5.1 interceptions per game.

For comparison's sake, he made 47 more interceptions than Maicon, whilst starting five fewer games.

However, Martínez looks awkward with the ball at his feet, which is why he misplaced 31.9 percent of his passes. It's also why he won't be playing for Spain any time soon.

3. César Azpilicueta, Marseille, Age: 22

When César Azpilicueta is in the zone, he starts winning the ball as if he'll never play the game again.

He had six tackles and 12 interceptions in a 3-0 win over Ligue 1 rivals Paris Saint Germain. He also kept Brazilian Nenê, who was having a world-class season, out of the game.

In a 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Azpilicueta made eight tackles and three interceptions. He shut Franck Ribéry down, much to the joy of the Stade Vélodrome faithful.

Unfortunately, Azpilicueta isn't this aggressive week in, week out.

2. Łukasz Piszczek, Borussia Dortmund, Age: 27

Łukasz Piszczek enjoyed another productive season for Borussia Dortmund in 2011-12.

When there's a dearth of first-rate right-backs, let alone world-class right-backs, Piszczek must be one of Dortmund's most valuable assets. 

What makes Piszczek so desirable for major teams is his completeness—he can attack and defend. 

If he played for Real Madrid, he would have been lauded as the best right-back in the world.

League Only	Piszczek	Dani Alves	Mathieu Debuchy	Maicon
Tackles	89	112	89	49
Interceptions	65	63	66	61
Tackles Per Foul	4.9	1.9	1.2	3.5
Fouls Conceded	18	60	72	14
Goals	4	2	5	2
Shots Per Goal	7.3	18	8	13.5
Assists	7	11	1	4
Shots Created	35	54	26	59

1. Tony Jantschke, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Age: 22

Tony Jantschke is one big move away from gaining the worldwide recognition he deserves. 

From a defensive point of view, he has no weaknesses. He generally forces his opponent into a non-threatening position, which demonstrates high football IQ and excellent positional awareness.

José Mourinho once described Paulo Ferreira (via Mirror Football) as "a player who will never be man of the match but will always score 7/10 for his individual display."

The same can be applied to Jantschke.

Whilst the likes of Mathieu Debuchy and Łukasz Piszczek may be better players right now, Jantschke's upside is hard to overlook. 

Inter Milan took a leap of faith with Andrea Stramaccioni, so they should do the same with Jantschke. 

Borussia Mönchengladbach have several other youngsters with the potential to become something special in Marc-André ter Stegen (20), Álvaro Domínguez (23), Granit Xhaka (19) and Patrick Herrmann (21).

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Statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com