Few goals scored and many missed opportunities, but he is an authentic group man, important for the balance of the locker room. He has another year on his contract, but his future remains to be defined
In the 2023-24 scudetto his contribution was greater than that in the 2009-10 Italian championship, but when last summer he was purchased on loan with obligation to buy from Bologna for a total of ten million euros, Marko Arnautovic hoped to have an even greater impact in the Nerazzurri season. Because, if in the year of the treble he was a twenty-year-old boy who arrived in Milan (on loan) prepared to make a lot of bench work because he had many champions in front of him, last August he returned to Pinetina with a very different status. And also with other ambitions, which have only partially materialised.
NUMBERS
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Let’s start with the figures to understand well what the Austrian’s contribution to the cause has been so far. Thanks to Saturday’s half hour in Reggio Emilia he exceeded 1,000 minutes in the season, of which 661 in 25 league appearances. In Serie A he was a starter on just 3 occasions, 2 to replace the injured Lautaro at the end of December; he has 2 goals and 3 assists to his credit. Even adding the 2 goals in the Champions League, a too limited turnover compared to 2022-23 when at Bologna, despite the physical problems, he scored 10 goals in 24 matches. Under the two Towers Marko was the team’s permanent starter despite the fact that there was a certain Zirkzee in the squad, who had not yet shown (like now) all of his qualities. At Inter, however, he returned to act as a reserve for Lautaro and Thuram and he knew that he would have limited space or at least a space proportionate to his performance. That’s why his hope was to play something more than a… cameo in the championship film. He was unable to do so due to the two muscle injuries that knocked him out (the one to his left thigh in September forced him into the infirmary for 11 matches between Inter and Austria; the one to his right thigh in March kept him out of 4 matches), but also because of his errors in front of goal in particular against Bologna in the Italian Cup, against Verona and Lecce (when however he provided a backheel assist for Barella’s 2-0) in the championship and against Atletico in the Champions League, before scoring the 1-0 in the first leg.
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idol and future
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In the locker room Arnautovic is one of the most well-liked by his teammates because he knows how to work as a team, he always had a word of comfort for his teammates and above all he never said a phrase out of place when he wasn’t being used. During the celebration after the home victory against Torino, he called the applause and the scream of San Siro exactly as it had happened at dawn at the Meazza after the Champions League triumph on 22 May 2010. Now he is happy with his two tricolours, but he has no absolute certainties about the future, despite the contract until 2025 worth 3.7 million net (with the advantages of the Growth Decree). Inzaghi also complimented Marko on Saturday (“He and Sanchez were important this year and I would like to keep everyone”), but he also said that his desire is to expand the squad. And since Taremi has arrived (and Niño Maravilla will not be retained), his reasoning aimed to underline the need for another striker, with Arnautovic remaining as the fifth option. Or he would be sold in the event of an offer that will not cause a market capital loss.
2024-05-08 03:02:41
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