Romelu Lukaku completing his return to Inter would make the Nerazzurri favourites to win Serie A next season, according to Milan legend Alessandro Costacurta.
Lukaku is reportedly nearing an Inter comeback less than a year after making a club-record £97.5million move to Chelsea, where he scored just eight Premier League goals as Thomas Tuchel's men finished third.
The Belgian had scored 30 goals and added 11 assists during his final season with Inter, helping the Nerazzurri end an 11-year wait for a league title as they finished 12 points clear of local rivals Milan.
While the Rossoneri fought back to end their own long Scudetto drought last month, Costacurta believes the return of Lukaku would shift the balance of power in Inter's favour.
"I think they also were [favourites] last year," he told TuttoMercato.
"Inter were the strongest last year and with Lukaku the gap with the others is getting wider."
Costacurta also expects Juventus to be back in the title mix after they finished fourth in consecutive Serie A seasons, but claims the return of Federico Chiesa, who sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury in January, is more important to their prospects than the potential arrival of Paul Pogba.
"A lot will depend on the recovery of Chiesa, one of the best players in Europe. If he recovers well, Juve will fight against Inter," the former defender said.
"This will be the blow, the one that most of all can shift the balance. More than Pogba."
Meanwhile, Milan are reportedly looking to bolster their own attack with moves for departing Liverpool forward Divock Origi and Real Madrid's Marco Asensio, and Costacurta, who won five European Cup/Champions League titles with the Rossoneri, believes both would be useful additions.
"I have never been in love with him [Origi], but he is a wonderful player," he said.
"Like [Olivier] Giroud, he will be able to help. They are not extraordinary players, but [you need] to have players like that, like Giroud last year."
On Asensio, Costacurta added: "He is an excellent player, he has a lot of quality."
Costacurta's glittering playing career saw him establish a fearsome defensive partnership with Milan's current technical director Paolo Maldini, and although reports have suggested the Rossoneri legend could leave in the absence of a new contract offer, Costacurta remains confident his old friend will extend his stay.
"I can't imagine a Milan without Paolo Maldini," he said. "I don't think they [the club] are morons and so I imagine that as soon as they can, Maldini will sign.
"I don't even ask myself the problem. A radical change of strategy would be harmful.
"It seems to me that everything is going very well. The limited budget leads to a lot of ideas, I wouldn't worry much about it."
Juventus 1-1 Cagliari: Marin's late spot-kick thwarts Motta's men
Juventus were reduced to 10 and conceded for the first time this season in Serie A as a late Razvan Marin penalty snatched a 1-1 draw for Cagliari.
Dusan Vlahovic put Juve ahead with a penalty of his own in the 15th minute on Sunday.
Sebastiano Luperto, making his 150th appearance in Serie A, had been judged to have handled in the area after a VAR check.
Yet despite dominating the ball, with 73.7% possession, Juve were unable to find a decisive second goal, with Vlahovic guilty of squandering a fantastic chance in the 79th minute.
And they were made to pay when Marin converted from the spot after Douglas Luiz fouled Roberto Piccoli.
Juve's frustration was compounded when Francisco Conceicao picked up his second yellow card in the 89th minute, with the post then denying Adam Obert a last-gasp winner for Cagliari.
Data Debrief: Juve's defence finally breached
Juve were rocked by a season-ending injury to defender Bremer this week, albeit they looked largely untroubled until the late penalty drama.
Marin's penalty was the first time Juve have conceded in Serie A in 755 minutes of action, since Ricardo Calafiori's goal for Bologna back on May 20.
Thiago Motta will lament some wasteful finishing, with Juve having 21 shots and tallying up 2.57 expected goals (xG) to Cagliari's 1.12.
Inzaghi demands more from Inter after narrow win over Torino
Inter must improve defensively if they are to go on and retain their Serie A crown this season, so says Simone Inzaghi.
Marcus Thuram's hat-trick propelled Inter to a 3-2 victory over 10-man Torino on Saturday.
It was Inter's second 3-2 win on the spin in Serie A, moving them up to second.
Inter only conceded seven shots, but five of those were on target, with Torino's 1.61 expected goals (xG) showing the visitors created decent openings at San Siro, where Nikola Vlasic converted a late penalty to set up a grandstand finale.
"Clearly, we need to improve in some aspects, we pay a heavy price for every tiny distraction," said Inzaghi, who has seen Inter concede two goals in successive league matches for the first time since May 2023.
"We worked really hard on details that need to be whittled down, the lads have great spirit, but considering everything we did today, today's game shouldn't have ended 3-2.
"Seeing a team perform like this in three matches makes me want to congratulate these guys. We need to keep working the way we are, and in our penalty area, we all need to be more attentive.
"We're working on it, and we need to do more. Over the past two days, the team has trained extremely well, and we're trying to pay even more attention to the finer details."
Hat-trick hero Thuram, meanwhile, says the entire team must step up when it comes to defending.
"It's also the fault of the attackers, not just the defenders or the goalkeeper," he said.
"We are eleven players on the pitch and not conceding goals is part of everyone's job. We will try to improve in the upcoming games.
"There’s a lot of work, especially in the penalty area. For me, scoring is always a great feeling, but I always want to remain a player who helps the team above all."
Thuram's haul was the third time he has scored at least twice in a match this season, matching Erling Haaland.
Indeed, in 2024, only Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic has scored more Serie A goals than Thuram (13).
Real Madrid's Carvajal confirms serious knee injury
Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal could be set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury.
Carvajal had to be taken off late on in Saturday's LaLiga meeting with Villarreal, which Madrid won 2-0 thanks to goals from Federico Valverde and Vinicius Junior.
The 32-year-old and the club subsequently confirmed he will have to go under the knife.
"Serious cruciate ligament injury confirmed, I'll have to undergo surgery and be off the field for a few months," Carvajal said on Instagram.
"Looking forward to starting the recovery process and coming back like an animal. Thank you all for your messages, I feel very loved."
After the match, Carlo Ancelotti said: "It looks like a pretty serious knee injury, the dressing room is sad and worried.
"It's something that happens a lot of times because of the calendar and it's happened to a very important player for us.
"He is a fundamental player for us because of his experience.
"I've been talking to him and he's sad, but there's not much we can do. We are going to see the medical evaluation and think about him recovering. The doctor has told us that he has to do tests, but that it's a knee injury."
Asked how he may replace Carvajal in Madrid's starting XI, Ancelotti said: "We have Lucas Vazquez, but it's not the time to talk about this.
"We are going to wait and if the injury is serious we are going to manage the squad well and see who we put in this position. It will not be me."
Vinicius also suffered an injury against Villarreal, with Madrid confirming the Brazil star had a cervical issue.
The victory took Los Blancos level on points with Barcelona at the summit of LaLiga, ahead of the Blaugrana facing Deportivo Alaves on Sunday.
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