Inter Milan scraped into the Champions League places last season, finishing fourth, thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Samir Handanovic on the final day of the season. Last season was marred largely by the antics of Mauro Icardi and his wife/agent constantly creating negative headlines and causing unrest in the dressing room.
Now under new leadership in the form of serial winner Antonio Conte, and with the help of a couple of talismanic signings, Inter will be hoping to make the most of the upheaval at Juventus to end their 10-year wait for the Scudetto
Transfer Business Overview
Inter Milan, along with Napoli, have made serious moves in the transfer market to put pressure on a Juventus side struggling to get rid of unwanted players. The introduction of Diego Godin looks to be a piece of business which could give Inter the strongest defence in the league, as he is likely to slot alongside the likes of Milan Skriniar and Stefan De Vrij in Conte's favoured back three.
Romelu Lukaku has finally made his long-awaited move to Italy after batting his eyelashes at the league ever-since he played for Everton and will no doubt score goals in his new league. For a player who has been brandished with being a failure at Old Trafford, 42 goals in 96 games is not a terrible return.
The signing of young midfielder Nicolo Barella is another capture which draws the eye. The tireless midfielder regained possession the most in the league over the past two seasons and this work ethic will no doubt be a match made in heaven for Conte. Matteo Politano joined from Sassuolo after an impressive season, scoring five goals and assisting seven for a largely underwhelming side.
However, there has still been a few significant outgoings at the club. Ivan Perisic has moved onto Bayern Munich over the summer, whilst Radja Naingolan has left the club to be closer to his wife's family, joining Cagliari.
The bad smell around the club still lingers as Mauro Icardi is linked with a new club every week. It is unknown if a deal will be able to be struck to get him out the club before the transfer window ends.
Antonio Conte
The man is a known winner. Known for his relentless style, Conte achieves results almost immediately after joining clubs. Conte took the job at Chelsea off the back of a season where the club massively underperformed, finishing 10th in the league. His first season was also the year when Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City expecting to continue the domestic dominance which he enjoyed at Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Jose Mourinho looked to finally be a suitable replacement for Sir Alex Ferguson after a couple of depressing replacement attempts and spent big money to become a success. However, Conte ended up winning the title without much competition, earning 93 points in the process whilst just missing out on the FA Cup.
Conte also achieved an invincible season at Juventus for the first time of asking whilst AC Milan were still a force to be reckoned with. His first and only season at Siena in Serie B resulted in a promotion. It would be quite the achievement for Conte to end what he started with Inter Milan, putting a dagger into Juventus' dominance.
Player to Watch
There is no doubt that Inter Milan's season will rely heavily on the goals of Romelu Lukaku. After a summer of proving that he is not overweight or slow on social media, the Belgian needs to focus on his football and doing what he does best- scoring goals.
Antonio Conte has wanted Lukaku for so long, particularly when the former Everton man joined Manchester United, rather than Conte's Chelsea. It would be presumed that if Conte has wanted him for so long, he will have a system readymade for Belgium's record goalscorer to return to his clinical best.
One for the Future
Depending on the system Conte wants to implement, Lautaro Martinez may need to be patient this season for chances due to the signing of Romelu Lukaku. Whenever called upon in the last 12 months, both for club and country, Martinez has delivered. He scored two goals for his country in the Copa America during the summer for an Argentina side that often look void of any attacking ideas, other than giving the ball to Lionel Messi 40 yards out with five men around him. The aggressive forward also did a sterling job up top during the drama that comes with Icardi, scoring six.
Predicted Finish
There appears to be a clear top three in Serie A this season. Napoli has strengthened along with Inter and Juventus will always be the favourites. However, with the introduction of a proven winner and a man who gets instant results at several of his clubs, Conte might have the edge over Napoli and his former employers. Juventus will have the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic who have been publically placed on the unwanted list and Mauricio Sarri has a history of not being able to control rotation. I Nerazzurri fans will be fancying their chances of breaking the status quo in Italian football this season and becoming champions for the first time in ten years.