It is common for most footballers to start to decline gradually after reaching the milestone of 30 years of age, but Antonio Conte isn’t a believer in the aforementioned theory: as his Inter Milan acquire yet another player aged more than 30 in Arturo Vidal, taking the total tally of players aged above 30 in the squad to 12.
The players aged 30 and more in the Nerazzurri camp already are namely Kwadwo Asamoah, Andrea Ranocchia, Diego Godin, Alexis Sanchez, Antonio Candreva, Ashley Young, Ivan Perisic, new signing Aleksandr Kolarov, Danilo D’Ambrosio, Radja Nainggolan and club captain Samir Handanovic.
The Italian loves his older statesmen, being an orthodox trainer on the pitch: he loves his share of experienced players with excellent work ethic unlike other managers who usually look for fresh, young talent they can mould into superstars if used right.
Vidal has been one of Conte’s favourites since their time together at Juventus, and he will rejoin the Italian after numerous failed attempts in Conte’s Chelsea spell. It exemplifies the trust the manager would be willing to impart to a player with the ability and leadership capability of Vidal.
Antonio Conte is a master tactician who prizes himself on bringing the most out of players with comparatively lesser ability and his habit to ensure silverware in every club he has managed, except the Inter Milan job where he was appointed at the helm in 2019.
There is no doubt that Conte is going to war, as he is trying to build an army and definitely is willing to win some welcome silverware in his coming season with the Italian side, but he will need a few trusted generals in the middle of the pitch. And by the looks of it, Inter Milan have quite a few of them.
