If Liverpool’s problems were not bad enough right now, they must now contend with a trip to face one of the best teams in all of Europe.
Inter Milan may have been humiliated during last season’s Champions League final, but the Italian side are still formidable opposition.
Liverpool have a decent track record in Milan, but having won only once in six games, the Reds may head into Tuesday’s game as second favourites.
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Inter by contrast have racked up three straight wins, scoring 10 times and currently sit second in Serie A, one point behind champions Napoli.
Their position is testament to the quality manager Christian Chivu has at his disposal, and Liverpool may well have their eye on two players in particular for a potential future move to Merseyside.
Alessandro Bastoni and Petar Sucic should be in Liverpool’s sights
As Liverpool search for the right player to come in at centre-back in 2026, there is little question that Alessandro Bastoni should be at the top of their list.
The 26-year-old is about as ready-made as they come having excelled in Inter’s back line since arriving from Atalanta in 2017.
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Bastoni joining Liverpool does seem unlikely at this stage, but if the Reds want the best of the best, then they should make an approach to sound Inter out.
Another area Liverpool could really do with strengthening next year is in midfield, where things have begun to unravel this season.
As it happens, Inter may just possess the ideal player to plug that gap for Liverpool as well: 22-year-old new signing Petar Sucic.
Inter’s scouts did brilliantly to identify Sucic at Dinamo Zagreb and paid just £14m to bring him to Milan. Since then he has shown his quality while being rotated in and out by Chivu. Still only young, Sucic looks like a versatile gem of a midfielder very much in the Ryan Gravenberch mould.
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What kind of player is Sucic?
Given Inter still boast midfielders of the calibre of Hakan Calhanoglu and the forever Liverpool-linked Nicolo Barella, Sucic has not been a permanent fixture in Chivu’s team.
Still, he has started eight of Inter’s 14 Serie A matches, coming off the bench in a further five games.
A metronomic midfielder capable of driving forward with the ball and passing off both feet, Sucic is maybe not the orthodox No. 6 some Liverpool fans feel they need at the moment.
But the Croatia international is clearly a technical and composed player who you could easily see dovetailing well with any of Liverpool’s current midfielders.
Having only just arrived at Inter last summer, it seems unlikely the Nerazzurri would be keen to offload Sucic quite so soon. But perhaps if Liverpool like what they see they can come up with an offer big enough to make them think twice. Keep an eye on him tomorrow.
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