Rozzano in the morning, the verdict by the afternoon
Inter did not leave this one hanging. Hakan Calhanoglu went for scans at the Humanitas Clinical Institute in Rozzano on Tuesday morning, and by mid-afternoon the club had published the result: a muscle injury to the adductor of his right thigh. “His condition will be reassessed in the coming days,” the statement read. No return date. No number of weeks attached to it.
The Turkey midfielder had already sat out Monday’s 5-3 win over Udinese. Gazzetta dello Sport and Sky both report he will miss Saturday’s trip to Rome as well, a fixture Cristian Chivu wanted to approach at full strength.
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Fifty-two goals from midfield, and the hole they leave
Calhanoglu is 32 and had opened the season at his usual tempo. Two goals in four appearances across all competitions, against Monza and Cagliari. Modest on paper. Both arrived in tight wins, though, the sort of afternoon where Inter run out of ideas against a packed defence and simply give him the ball.
Stretch the view back and the picture changes. Since arriving on a free transfer from AC Milan in 2021, he has 52 goals and 39 assists in 216 matches for the nerazzurri. Very few midfielders in Serie A have produced anything close over the same five years.
Chivu showed his workaround on Monday. Nicolò Barella, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Piotr Zielinski started against Udinese, with Aleksandar Stankovic and Curtis Jones arriving off the bench. That holds up for one night. Across a month of fixtures, the seams start to show.
A contract to 2027, and an awkward moment for it
The timing is unkind. This is his sixth season at San Siro and his deal expires in June 2027. At 32, muscle trouble tends to follow a player into the negotiating room, and Inter have been willing to move him on before.
The next round of tests decides whether this is a matter of days or something rather longer.
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