[FM13] Giuseppe Bergomi - The King of Calcio

Cambiasso Signs 1 Year Extension

Club captain Esteban Cambiasso signs a 1 year extension.

It seems that Esteban Cambiasso has become part of the furniture at Inter Milan. After a wonderful youth career at Argentinos saw him get gobbled up by Real Madrid, he fell a little bit short of the Merengues expectations and left the Santiago Bernabeu for free having failed to score a single goal in 41 Liga BBVA appearances. He wound up at the Giuseppe Meazza and hasn't looked back since. Currently in the middle of his twelfth year at Inter Milan, Cambiasso has made a massive 312 Serie A appearances and found the net a healthy 37 times. The Argentinian holding midfielder has become synonymous with the Nerazzurri and was named the club captain after the legendary Javier Zanetti's retirement.

Many people, however, were wondering if this year would be the 35 year old Cambiasso's last season in football before retirement. Age has caught up the captain, and he no longer has that step of pace, but his motivation, teamwork, and historic tough tackling remain intact. Javier Zanetti lasted until the age of 41, and though Cambiasso may not possess such longevity, he has indeed agreed to sign a one year extension ending in the summer of 2017. The 68 cap Argentinian has agreed to cut his wages nearly in half to a reported wage of €30,000 a week and will enjoy at least one more season as captain of Internazionale.

"It is really a wonderful feeling for me to sign again for another season," said Cambiaso before hinting at a role beyond playing in the future. "Inter is my home and always will be. I've spent twelve wonderful years here, and hopefully many more, even after retirement."

Inter Milan manager Giuseppe Bergomi praised Cambiasso, telling the press, "I'm delighted he's signed on for another year. Of course we've got to ration his minutes a bit as he gets on in age but he's a wonderful guy to have in the locker room and inspire the guys and help out the younger lads. He's a model professional and a wonderful friend to everyone here at the club."

Cambiasso's signing on will be a big mental, if not on the pitch, boost to Inter Milan as they continue their push in the transfer market and continue to fight for multiple honors come season's end including the Coppa Italia, the Serie A, and of course the UEFA Champions League.

January Results

Inter 2-0 Udinese

Serie A

Sissoko (25)
Ekdal (78)
Coutinho (87)

Ranocchia

A solid win over a good team for 3 points. We were in control of the match from start to finish, and a potentially nervy last 10 minutes were made far simpler by Albin Ekdal's straight red card and Coutinho's late goal to seal the match.

Atalanta 0-2 Inter

Serie A

Sterling (17)
Bellusci (55)

Ranocchia

Another solid victory, this time against rivals Atalanta, which pleased the fans greatly. In what was a bit odd, Sterling scored in the minute of his kit number and Bellusci scored in the minute of his kit number from the previous season (he is now 26).

Inter 2-0 Modena

Coppa Italia

Augusto (11)
Augusto (79)
M'Vila (pen 90+1)

I played many promising young players in my first Coppa Italia game, including Brazilian striker Augusto, making his second appearance. He started brilliantly with a goal but then got sent off for TWO DIVES! Idiot. Anyway, my youth looked good but were profligate, and it took a late penalty from substitute Yann M'Vila to seal the game.

Inter 2-0 Pescara

Serie A

Cascione (40)
Bellusci (45)
Pereira (54)
Nielsen (79)

Poli

Coutinho - Torn Hamstring (2-3 months)

Yet another 2-0 victory, this one perhaps the most comprehensive of all. Two of the opposing players were sent off, which helped immensely, and two defenders got on the score sheet. Poli beasted the midfield as well. I'm really gutted to see Coutinho injured again, he just can't get a break.

Inter 4-1 Empoli

Serie A

Destro (8, pen 86)
Sissoko (10)
Insigne (41)
Saba (68)

Pereira

A strong first half display saw off Pescara. It was great to see Destro hit a brace after 3 matches without a goal, and Insigne also broke a long drought of his own. I'm happy our offense has started to spark to life, and hopefully this continues.

Inter 4-2 Bari

Coppa Italia Qtr Final

Ademilson (11, 13, 73)
Caputo (46)
Sissoko (70)
Petre (90)

Ademilson

Forget Mattia Destro's brace, Ademilson puts himself back into the mix with a shout and stunning hattrick! We've now scored 4 goals twice in a row, which is great for me to see the offense starting to really get on a roll. Sissoko's also done very well, scoring in each of his last two games. On to the semis!

Cesena 0-2 Inter

Serie A

Bellusci (44)
Destro (pen 63)

Bellusci

Our fifth 2-0 win of the month, I'm sensing a pattern. Cesena played very well, to be fair, and we struggled immensely to create proper goal scoring chances. Eventually, Bellusci broke the deadlock from a corner and Destro sealed the deal from the penalty spot.

Serie A

There was a time, when the Bianconeri were under the guidance of Antonio Conte, that I considered Juventus our equal, and the league feared them as they feared us. Now, they are still good, but have fallen into the pack. Only a season ago we were Real Madrid and Barcelona, dueling it out for the title, and yet now I am Bayern, winning with ease.

Coppa Italia

No guarantees but it's looking as though we will be facing our eternal rivals Juventus in the final. We face a tricky semifinal against a solid Palermo side over two legs, and we will put all of our focus on those matches before thinking about the final.

Monthly Review

All in all, it was a perfect month for us, winning 7 out of 7 matches. We are running away with the Serie A and look comfortable in the Coppa Italia as we eagerly await the return of Champions League football in a month or two. My only concern is Xherdan Shaqiri. We spent a decent €10,250,000 plus bonuses on him and he's underwhelmed thus far with 1 assist in 5 appearances, 2 of those starts. Hopefully he will pick it up after he learns to play with the team's style more. For now, we look forward to deadline day!

Deadline Day Fireworks at Inter

New Inter right back Daniel Schwaab.

It was a relatively busy transfer deadline day for Giuseppe Bergomi and Inter as one player left and one player arrived at the Giuseppe Meazza. Youthful defender Ibrahima Mbaye left Inter on a co-ownership deal to Palermo and Daniel Schwaab came in as a replacement from Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.

Ibrahima Mbaye is Inter Milan born and bred and came up through their youth academy, making his first team debut for the club in the 2013-2014 season after spending the previous campaign out on loan to Serie B side Sassuolo. The 21 year old Senegalese defender has gone on to make 26 Serie A appearances (39 in all competitions) but has recently found game time tough to find. As a result, fellow Serie A side Palermo have snapped up Mbaye on co-ownership for €2,000,000 for the next 2 seasons with an option for the other 50% for €5,500,000, also serving as a callback fee for Inter.

Mbaye had been the backup right back before his sale, but had not impressed enough to be considered a solid second option behind Gino Peruzzi. Giuseppe Bergomi has thus brought in Stuttgart's talented defender Daniel Schwaab for €9,500,000. Schwaab was reportedly unhappy at the club and pursuing a move to a bigger team and Inter pounced on the opportunity to bring him in. The German had made 96 appearances in all competitions for Stuttgart since signing for €2,700,000 in 2013 from Bayer Leverkusen and had become an important part of the squad while also attracting interest from many top sides. Considered an excellent overall defender and hard worker with a wicked cross, Schwaab is expected to provide serious competition for the right back spot for Gino Peruzzi.

Competition is something that Bergomi seems to strongly believe in. He has absolutely stuffed his Inter side to the brim with quality with multiple excellent players in each position. The Nerazzurri are often spoiled for choice and Bergomi must have a selection headache every week. He spoke with the press at Schwaab's unveiling, saying, "He is a top right back that can attack and defend. Hopefully he can continue his good form from the Bundesliga in this league."

Schwaab could make his debut in as early as 2 days when Inter host Genoa in a Serie A fixture. The 27 year old has been given the number 22 kit.