What will Dalbert bring to Inter?

By Football Italia staff

Nice full-back Dalbert is in Milan to take his medicals, ahead of signing for Inter.

The Nerazzurri have been pursuing the full-back all summer, and with the deal close to being completed, Football Italia takes a look at what he’ll bring to Luciano Spalletti’s side.

Words: Tom Scholes

Dalbert Henrique is close to officially becoming the new summer signing for Inter this week, with the Brazilian set to join Matias Vecino, Milan Skriniar and Borja Valero at San Siro.

With many saying that a lot of work was needed on this Inter squad over the break, Dalbert will be a great signing at left-back, a position that Luciano Spalletti needed to improve on, but what exactly can the full-back bring to the Nerazzurri? Can he be a success, is this a smart signing and how will he fit into this new Inter team?

With the deal rumoured to be around the €20m mark, this will be seen at the end of the season as a steal, especially considering how much other players have been going for across Europe. Dalbert is fast, strong, has great crossing and is also defensively sound, a rare trait in modern full backs. Does he get caught out in behind sometimes? Of course, no flying full back is perfect, but Dalbert is able to make up for it with his timing in interceptions and his ability to know when to make a tackle and spring the counter attack.

In terms of like-for-like comparisons, the one that springs to mind when watching Dalbert is like Gareth Bale when he played left-back for Tottenham Hotspur. That’s not to say Dalbert will go on to be like Bale, but when you watch him run down the wing, beat a man and cross the ball, it’s very much like Bale when Spurs, ironically, beat Inter a few years ago in the Champions League.

His power in his pace is his main weapon, making it almost impossible to stop without fouling. Don’t let the stats fool you, Dalbert is a very productive, despite getting only four assists in 33 Ligue 1 games, it’s just that sometimes he didn’t have the right player on the end of his crosses. At Nice he had Mario Balotelli, but he will have the joy of providing for Mauro Icardi this season, a partnership that could flourish in the right system.

Much like the aforementioned Bale, Dalbert is capable of filling in at both left-back and midfield, proving to be a great outlet in both positions but it’s in the deeper position where he had more success with Nice. His versatility means that he can play in various systems, but he could really flourish as a wingback, having more license to roam forward and concentrating more of his game on creating goals knowing he has players back to cover him.

Ultimately, Dalbert is likely to be a good signing for Inter, and his ability from full-back will give them something they haven’t had for years from that position: productivity.

With all due respect to Yuto Nagatomo, Dalbert will completely blow him out of the water. The 23-year-old’s directness and productivity will prove to be a positive sign for Inter this season, and will take something strange to prevent Dalbert from being a hit in Serie A.

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