Inter Milan boss Frank De Boer is keen on strengthening his defence having set his sights on a possible move for Real Madrid’s Fabio Coentrao on deadline day.
After sorting out their attacking department, it appears that new Inter Milan boss Frank De Boer is keen on tweeking the Nerazzurri’s defence. The Dutchman has reportedly sounded out Real Madrid’s Fabio Coentrao as a potential transfer target and would like to have a deal completed before transfer deadline.
Reports from Italy claim that the Italians are trying to acquire him on-loan from the Spanish giants.
Coentrao isn’t a first-choice left-back at the Santiago Bernabeu with Zinedine Zidane more than happy to resort to the services of Marcelo. However, the Portuguese still remains a very capable back-up for the Los Blancos and a lack of options in that area of the park means it’ll take some convincing for Inter to get their man.
The Portuguese full-back spent last season out on-loan at AS Monaco featuring in 16 games for the French club even scoring 3 and assisting 2 in the process. Coentrao was once tipped for big things when he completed the switch to the Madrid giants from his boyhood club Benfica.
However, extended spells of injuries suffered during his time at the Bernabeu meant Coentrao would struggle to get a consistent run of games together. Having regularly clocked 25+ league appearances per season with Benfica, the 28-year-old managed to do the same only once in his 5 year stay with Real Madrid and was subsequently loaned out to Monaco where injuries once again cut short his involvement with the first team.
The Portuguese even lost out on his spot at left-back in the national side to younger and promising talents like Raphael Guerreiro and Eliseu. At the age of 28, Coentrao still has much of his career left ahead of him and De Boer believes he can try and extract the best out of him at Inter Milan.
The Italians have shown a great amount of intent in the on-going transfer window with the signings of attacking prospects like Joao Mario and Gabriel Barbosa to go with the recruitment of veteran midfielder Ever Banega. A potential capture of Coentrao on-loan from Madrid and De Boer will be a satisfied man going into his maiden season in-charge of the erstwhile Seria A giants.
