On Thursday evening, Robin Gosens’ move to Inter Milan was announced. This adds another chapter to the 27-year-old’s astounding career.
Simone Inzaghi knows him well as an opponent. While still Lazio coach, he led 2-0 against Atalanta in June 2020, but Robin Gosens cut it short and the Romans still lost 3-2. Three months later, the German fired Bergamo into the lead at Lazio, served up the assist to make it 2-0 – and Inzaghi shuffled home with a 4-1 defeat. I could do with a player like that, he thought, and asked his current employer, Inter Milan. The transfer was approved, and for 27 million euros (including bonuses) Gosens will not change his black and blue jersey colours in the short term, but he will change his location.
The German international (13 caps, two goals) will initially join the Lombards on loan until the end of the season, it was announced on Thursday evening. After that, there is an obligation to buy “under certain conditions”, as Milan announced in the evening. His contract with Inter would then have a long-term validity until 2026. Gosens would receive a salary of around three million a year.
Gosens is currently still suffering from a tendon injury in his thigh. He played his last game on 29 September. He had originally hoped to make a comeback in December, but is now expected to play for Inter from mid-February. Milan could also use him in the last 16 of the Champions League against Liverpool FC (16 February/8 March), although Gosens has already played for Atalanta in the top flight this season.
Gosens fits perfectly into Inzaghi’s system
After the long break, however, the 27-year-old will first need match practice and will actually work as a Robin behind the set batman Ivan Perisic in the hierarchy on the left. At the same time, however, the signing means a finger pointing to the soon-to-be 33-year-old Croatian, whose contract extension both parties are still far apart on.
Either Perisic accepts Inter’s conditions, otherwise a quality replacement has already been found. For the ninth German in Inter history fits perfectly into Inzaghi’s 3-5-2 strategy with high-standing track players and is also the defensive man with the most scorer points in Serie A since the 2019/20 season: 21 goals and 15 assists.
In the tradition of an Andi Brehme, Gosens could occupy the left sideline, while the right is also promisingly occupied by the currently in-form Dutch international Denzel Dumfries. Apparently, Gosens turned down a more lucrative offer from Newcastle United. Between the relegation candidates of the Premier League and the leaders of the Serie A including the Champions League, the sporting choice was probably easy. Especially since the move is insignificant at 50 kilometres via Autostrada 4.
Next step in an extraordinary career
In stark contrast to Gosen’s career leap: via Bocholt and Rhede he went to the Netherlands to the juniors of Vitesse Arnhem, then to Dordrecht (2nd division), followed by Heracles Almelo and the Eredivisie and then, yes, Serie A, Champions League, German national team and now Inter, the reigning champions. A steady, almost sensational rise of the powerhouse. “In Bergamo they joked about my technical deficiencies at first,” Gosens once explained. The Italian school under coach Gian Piero Gasperini also educated him formidably tactically since 2017 and made him one of the most sought-after left runners in Europe, scoring 29 goals in 157 competitive games for Atalanta. The club’s new goals are now the Scudetto and, secretly, a coup in the top flight. Gosens has not yet won a title in his career.
