With or Without Rafa Benitez, Inter Makes Moves in January

A little more than a month ago, Inter was being managed by Spaniard Rafael Benitez, who led the club to the FIFA Club World Cup title.

Following the tournament, Benitez didn’t waste any time voicing his opinion to the media that his club needed some reinforcements if it was to continue its winning way.

That was not what Inter president Massimo Moratti wanted to hear.

So a few days later, it was reported that the sides agreed to a split.

Moratti had stated previously that his club didn’t plan to participate in the January transfer window. But as past history has told us, anyone who believed that must also think donkeys can fly.

Fast-forward six weeks later and Inter has made some changes that Benitez might have approved of and some that he might not have.

The most recent one came on the last day of the transfer window: It was the signing of Japanese left back Yuto Nagatomo, who comes on loan from Cesena. In return, Inter sent Cesena its promising young back Davide Santon, who also moved on loan.

Nagatomo played a key role in leading Japan to the Asian Cup title over the weekend.

What role Nagatomo will play remains to be seen.

Christian Chivu is Inter’s regular left back. When he isn’t able to play, the club has generally moved captain Javier Zanetti into the role. That left Santon as virtually a third-string choice in the position. It will be interesting to see if Nagatomo is given more playing time than Santon was.

Inter has also added Giampaolo Pazzini from Sampdoria and traded away Jonathan Biabiany. Biabiany actually gave Inter a player who could play as an attacking midfielder in its 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-2-1 setup or even as a center forward. Pazzini may fit more of what Inter is looking for, but he is strictly a pure center forward, which means he figures to be a second stringer behind Gabriel Milito.

Andrea Ranocchia, Inter’s first signing in January, is the one that makes the most sense. With Walter Samuel out for the season due to injury, the club needed to get someone younger to fill in as veterans Ivan Cordoba and Marco Materazzi are not long-term solutions to the problem.  Ranocchia filled the biggest need.

Inter also added French-born Moroccan international Houssine Kharja from Genoa. The midfielder has bounced around Italy for a decade but has only seen significant playing time with smaller clubs. He certainly isn’t a player fit to crack Inter’s lineup unless injuries should occur.

Inter’s fifth signing was that of young Dutch striker Luc Castaignos. But he won’t join the club until the summer.

Departing from Inter in January was attacking midfielder Amantino Mancini, who never seemed to fit in after enjoying success with AS Roma. He returned to Brazil after being not much more than a bench warmer for Inter the past few seasons.

Also leaving was Sulley Muntari, who joined Sunderland. If Kharja is Muntari’s replacement, Inter did not make an improvement.

Last, but not least, Inter loaned out Colombian defender Nelson "Tyson" Rivas to Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Rivas was about as far down on Inter’s depth chart as Oguchi Onyewu was with AC Milan. That basically means that he plays only if everyone else is sick or injured. Inter does not lose anything as a result of Rivas leaving.

Time will tell if Inter made the right moves in January or not.

Meanwhile, Benitez can sit at home and wonder if he had just kept himself from telling the whole world his thoughts, he might actually be employed right now.