The Turkish player, sidelined again by a calf recurrence, remains on the radar of the Istanbul club. The former Dinamo Zagreb man is gradually stepping into the spotlight.
There`s an aerial crossroads in Inter`s American tour, a turning point that takes off directly from the midfield. Yesterday morning, Hakan Calhanoglu took some selfies with fans in the lobby of his Seattle Downtown hotel, replied with a non-committal “we`ll see” when asked about his calf, and then boarded a plane that sadly took him back to Italy. Also leaving the Club World Cup with him were fellow midfielder Piotr Zielinski and the two right-sided defenders, Benjamin Pavard and Yann Bisseck. At the same Seattle airport, however, Petar Sucic boarded another plane with the rest of the squad heading for the round of 16. Just like upon departure and arrival in Seattle, the shy Croatian blended into the group unnoticed, as if he wasn`t one of those who dodged the point-blank shots fired by the Argentinians. Indeed, it was he who sliced through River`s defense at the right moment to kindly provide the assist for Pio Esposito. That`s just how the kid is; he doesn`t crave the spotlight and quietly entered a dressing room he used to admire on television. He even said so in a Gazzetta interview, carefully choosing his words, always whispering. On the field, however, he showed courage, not only in the tackles and fouls he endured from the rough players from Baires on Wednesday night, but also in how he dribbled his way out of tricky situations. In one instance, he even sent Mkhitaryan towards goal, with Mkhitaryan currently serving as his personal Italian-English translator in the dressing room.
Doubts and Hype
The future is certainly open, but the initial hierarchy was quite clear: Calha is a starter, even for Chivu, and Sucic is “just” a 21-year-old talent to nurture. However, events are unexpectedly beginning to shift the landscape, with currently unpredictable consequences. Adding to the Turkish temptations and his agent`s continuous flirting with Galatasaray, Hakan suffered another annoying recurrence of his troublesome calf injury in America, and immediate tests mandated caution. Conversely, after the sensational Pio Esposito, Sucic is the Inter player generating the most hype from the entire World Cup expedition. Intrigued Nerazzurri fans, who can`t wait to see him play again, have realized that ahead of him lie valleys and prairies where he can run and grow. These are the same fans who previously would have gone to great lengths to prevent Calha from leaving, and who now suspect that an era in the team`s central midfield is coming to an end. In short, a hypothetical sale might perhaps arrive at the right time.
Intertwined Destinies
Nevertheless, it`s difficult for an adequate offer to arrive from the Bosphorus, also because “Gala” is not accustomed to paying figures like the 40 million euros requested by the Nerazzurri for a 31-year-old midfielder. For his part, the Turk has no intention of theatrically breaking with Inter by asking to leave. For this reason too, Hakan`s future currently seems decidedly leaning towards Nerazzurri Milan. Rather, in the short and medium term, his future is intertwined with that of his rising Croatian teammate. For good Petar, in fact, the chances of being consistently deployed in a department without Calha are increasing, not only because the Croatian can play as a mezzala or in a two-man midfield like he does with Modric for the national team, but he could also position himself in the middle, precisely in the areas that Asllani is competently occupying in America in place of the Turk. Meanwhile, their planes have taken different paths: from the USA to Italy, perhaps even stopping in Turkey, soon it will become clear what the final destination will be for both.
