If Inter Milan fire Simone Inzaghi, here are five possible candidates who could take over until season’s end

Inter Milan are now in a deep crisis after that the Nerazzurri lost their second consecutive Serie A match Saturday against AS Roma (you can catch all the Serie A action live on Paramount+). Simone Inzaghi has started off the new season poorly, with four wins against Lecce, Cremonese, Spezia and Torino and four losses against Lazio, AC Milan, Udinese and AS Roma. With only 12 points after eight games and 13 goals conceded, Inter are currently ninth in the table, eight points behind league leaders Napoli and Atalanta. Also, Inter lost the opening UEFA Champions League match against Bayern Munich at home but then later won the away match against Viktoria Plzen. On Tuesday, Inter Milan will host FC Barcelona at San Siro (catch all the Champions League action live on Paramount+) for a match that will likely decide the rest of the UCL campaign, while next week they will play again against Barcelona away. 

So, this week could decide the future of their coach. Inzaghi’s position is now at risk, and if results don’t change, it’s increasingly likely that he will be sacked in the coming weeks. Even though it looks like that the club will give him more time (at least until the beginning of the World Cup in November), if Inter keep losing, the situation will become more urgent. 

Let’s take a look at the possible options Inter would have to replace Inzaghi if they do decide to make a move. Considering the difficult financial situation of the club and the fact that they just renewed Inzaghi’s contract until 2024, it’s unlikely that owner Steven Zhang will give the green light to hire a manager that will earn more than what Inzaghi’s making, around €5 million per season. On the other hand, it’s more likely that Inter Milan could hire a caretaker manager until the end of the season and then look for a longer term option in the summer. If we follow this logic, we have to rule out managers such as Mauricio Pochettino or Thomas Tuchel who are currently without a club but earn much more than Inzaghi if we consider their last appointments. So, who can replace Inzaghi in the short term? 

1. Christian Chivu

The current coach of Inter’s Under-23 team is among the candidates as he already knows most of the players he would work with. It’s also always a risky choice thouogh, to go with a coach from the youth ranks with little top level experience. and in the recent past Inter only did it once when in 2012 the Nerazzurri sacked Claudio Ranieri and replaced him with Andrea Stramaccioni. 

2. Dejan Stankovic

The former Inter Milan midfielder is currently available after he ended his spell at Red Star Belgrade but Sampdoria are also considering him after that the club decided to sack Marco Giampaolo on Sunday. So, Stankovic might join Serie A soccer really soon anyway, it’s just a matter of where. 

3. Claudio Ranieri 

The experienced choice. Ranieri already coached Inter Milan during the season 2011-12 and he can be a short term option if the club decides to hire a different kind of manager with more experience until the end of the season. 

4. Paulo Sousa 

The Portuguese coach might come back to Italian soccer where he coached Fiorentina from 2015 to 2017. He also played at Inter Milan when he was a player for two years (from 1998 to 2000) and he’s now without a club after he ended his spell at Flamengo last June.  

5. Walter Zenga

His name is always around when Inter Milan need a caretaker manager. He always stated that his dream is to coach Inter Milan one day after he played in a Nerazzurri jersey from 1982 to 1994 where he became a legend of the club.