In the early hours of November 12th, Beijing time, the headline of Spain's "Daily Sports" was "Barcelona has made a move for Eindhoven's Afellay." Interestingly, this report did not cause a big reaction domestically in Spain but instead sparked significant attention from Italian media! Italy's "All Market" sarcastically remarked: Barcelona now finds joy in attacking Inter Milan's transfer strategies! The main reason Inter Milan is interested in Afellay is because he offers high value for money. Afellay's contract expires next summer, and recently, Eindhoven officially issued a statement confirming that Afellay will not renew his contract with the club. If they wait until next summer, Eindhoven can only watch as their star player leaves for free, without earning a penny. Therefore, selling Afellay in winter is a relatively realistic consideration. Although many teams are paying attention to Afellay, the team most actively willing to pay several million euros in cash for him in winter is Inter Milan. The "Milan Sports Daily" once vowed that "Afellay could very likely be Inter Milan's first signing in winter."
The 24-year-old Dutch international Afellay currently plays for Eindhoven and performed well in this year's World Cup. Afellay is one of the standout players produced by the "star-making machine" of the Dutch league in recent years, attracting attention from numerous top clubs including Liverpool. Currently, the team closest to Afellay is Inter Milan; Sneijder often suggests that Inter Milan sign Afellay, and the managers of the Nerazzurri have already visited Holland twice.
It can be foreseen that once Barcelona gets involved, it will become much harder for Inter Milan to sign Afellay - at least, it will no longer be possible for Inter Milan to sign Afellay on the cheap. On one hand, Serie A's appeal to talent cannot compare with La Liga, and on the other hand, Inter Milan's revenue does not match Barcelona's, making it difficult to offer high salaries to its players.
In European football, relationships between teams are complex and intertwined, and teams from different leagues may also form strategic alliances in the transfer market. In recent years, Inter Milan has been close to both Real Madrid and Barcelona, but as the saying goes, there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. Now, under new circumstances, the story of Barcelona opposing Inter Milan might play out again after the Mascherano saga.
If Barcelona snatches Afellay, whom Inter Milan has had their eyes on for two years, it would count as the second time within half a year that Barcelona has poached Inter Milan's target. The "Milan Sports Daily" analyzed that last year Barcelona was still Inter Milan's strategic partner (Laporta and Moratti had a good relationship, which was the basis for the Ibrahimovic-Eto'o deal). However, since Rosell took office, he has chosen a stance opposed to Inter Milan. Rosell has a better relationship with Galliani (otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to sell Ibrahimovic to Milan for zero payment in the first year), and this move also pushed Inter Milan into the camp of Barcelona's rival, Real Madrid (Florentino successfully took Mourinho from Inter Milan after meeting with Moratti).
During the summer transfer window, when Inter Milan chose to use the "delay tactic" to try to force Liverpool to sell Mascherano to Inter Milan at a low price, Barcelona swiftly intervened and signed the Argentine captain, causing Inter Milan's summer strategy to fall into complete passivity. Although Barcelona's signing of Mascherano temporarily did not enhance their combat capability, Inter Milan suffered greater setbacks due to this. By winter, Barcelona once again targeted Inter Milan's top winter acquisition goal, likely leading to further deterioration of relations between the two teams' management.
But now the situation has become complicated. Because Barcelona has also made a move. Barcelona's mouthpiece, "Daily Sports," hyped up this matter on its front page: "Barcelona will attempt to sign Afellay in January because the player's contract expires in July next year, which will prompt Eindhoven to sell him at a lower price. Afellay will become Barcelona's target. He himself hopes to play alongside Xavi and Iniesta, and if Barcelona invites him, he will not refuse."