Less Height, More Speed – How Summer Transfer Window Changed Inter Milan Squad Physically

Inter Milan are a shorter team, but also quicker, after the changes made during the summer transfer window.

Today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, take stock of the physical composition of the Nerazzurri’s squad following a summer overhaul.

This summer, a total of twelve players left Inter.

Among those who headed for the exit door were some of the Nerazzurri’s tallest players from last season.

The likes of Edin Dzeko, Roberto Gagliardini, and Raoul Bellanova are no longer at the club. Nor are Marcelo Brozovic, Milan Skriniar, or Robin Gosens.

In most cases, the players who Inter brought in to replace the ones who departed don’t have quite the same physical stature.

There are still some tall players to have arrived – striker Marko Arnautovic, for example.

But Inter are, in truth, a bit physically slighter than they had been last season.

As the Corriere notes, Inter have dropped from 184.5 cm to 182.08 cm in average height compared to last season.

And, in terms of weight, the Nerazzurri have gone down from 77.96 kg to 75.78 kg on average.

Inter Milan A Smaller Team – But Also Quicker

If the loss of some of last season’s heavy hitters could have led to worries that Inter would lose some of their edge in physicality, the team’s start to the season has not validated these fears.

The reason for this is another physical aspect in which the Nerazzurri have added – speed.

A key factor has been the arrival of Marcus Thuram in attack. The Frenchman has, more or less, inherited the role of Edin Dzeko.

Like Dzeko, Thuram is happy to drift deeper in the pitch, and he shares the Bosnian’s technical ability.

Thuram is not as tall or bulky as Dzeko. He is not as strong of an aerial presence, and is not going to outmuscle defenders in the same way.

But what Thuram possesses that Dzeko emphatically didn’t by the time he joined Inter is a turn of pace.

There is a new edge of directness to Inter’s play with the 26-year-old able to accelerate quickly up the pitch.