A pair of Argentine players and an Argentine coach could be headed to Inter Miami
A report out of Russia this week says that Inter Miami offered $30 million to Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg for the rights to Argentine forward Sebastian Driussi and defensive midfielder Matias Kranevitter.
Both players previously played at River Plate in Argentina, which would suggest River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo could be headed to Miami, too. Match TV, the Russian sports network, reported that Inter Miami sporting director Paul McDonough was in talks with agent Hernan Berman, who represents both players.
Kranevitter, 26, was a star for River Plate from 2011 to 2015, left for Atletico Madrid, where he played eight games, was loaned to Sevilla and then signed with Zenit in 2017. He has played nine matches for the Argentine national team. He was relegated to the bench this season, is unhappy, and told DirectTV Sports last week: “I will finish these last three games, keep training the 10 days that are left and then decide what I’m going to do.”
He said if he were to return to Argentina, he would want to play for River Plate, where he had a good relationship with Gallardo.
Driussi, 23, played for River Plate from 2013 to 17 and scored 21 goals in 67 games. He has scored 17 goals in 69 games for Zenit since joining the team in 2017 for a $16 million transfer fee. He also played on Argentina’s U17 and U20 national teams.
Gallardo is one of the names linked to the Inter Miami coaching search. He is one of the most successful and respected coaches in South America, and has drawn interest from big clubs in Europe. He led River Plate to the Copa Libertadores title last season and this year reached the final, but lost to Brazilian club Flamengo.
Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas said two weeks ago that the team had selected a coach and was finalizing negotiations. River Plate plays its final game of 2019 on Friday night against Cordoba.
Another coach whose name has come up as a candidate for Inter Miami is Carlo Ancelotti, who was fired Wednesday by Italian club Napoli despite the team advancing to the Champions League Round of 16 with a 4-0 win over Genk on Tuesday. Napoli has struggled in league play, however, with just one win since late September.
Ancelotti addressed the Inter Miami job opening when he was in Miami in August for a match against FC Barcelona at Hard Rock Stadium. Ancelotti coached Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham at AC Milan and Paris Saint Germain and they have remained friends.
“Beckham is my friend and was my player, I have a good relationship with him,” Ancelotti said. “MLS is improving and could be a good experience in the future.”
Inter Miami opens training camp in mid-January and plays its season opener March 1 at Los Angeles FC. The home opener is March 14 against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 11:58 AM.