Inter meet with father of Real Madrid summer target

After several promising showings three seasons ago, talented 20-year-old Nico Paz disappeared from the map for Real Madrid, spending all of last season with Castilla. Since moving to Serie A though, Paz has gone from strength to strength with Como, earning a call-up to the Argentina squad in the process.

This season Paz, who moved for just €6m in the summer from Real Madrid, has scored six goals and assisted five in his 26 appearances, leading the creative duties for Cesc Fabregas in Lombardy. That has led to a number of links to the likes of Arsenal and Inter, but Real Madrid retain a €9m buyback option on Paz.

It was reported last month that Real Madrid are planning to exercise that option on Paz, although they have yet to decide whether he will remain with the first team or he would then be sold on at a profit. They also have a 50% sell-on fee in his deal with Como.

Rumours of a move to Inter went into overdrive over the weekend though, after Paz’s father was seen meeting with Nerazzurri Vice-President Javier Zanetti in a restaurant. It should be noted that Pablo Paz once played with Zanetti for Argentina.

“The player is under Como’s management, but Real Madrid has a buy-back right, so it would be a rather complicated path. Furthermore, we’re talking about a great player, but we must recognise that our squad is already competitive, and we’re focused on the upcoming competitions. We’ll talk about the market later,” President Beppe Marotta told Diario AS.

Real Madrid are clearly in control of Paz’s future, but if Inter can convince him of a move, then they may have a hard time stopping it from happening. The 20-year-old has shown just how good he can be, but returning to Real Madrid could find the same issue: Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo Goes and Brahim Diaz are already ahead of him in the pecking order for two positions, without mentioning Arda Guler.